Poisoned
by AyaAkamatsu
Summary: CoS FF. Being confined meant certain death, but she knows too much for the Elric brothers to let her slip away. She can get them home. Homesickness isn't the only reason driving Ed to return; knots were left untied. OC pairings to come.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

**Author's Note: I recently realized how much I love the FMA movie, Conqueror of Shamballa, after having known that movie for over a year. The idea came to me in a rather funny way, in school – like all of my other fanfictions. I am writing a paper on the genius Marie Curie, and realized that I knew more about radioactive substances than I thought. The more research I did on her, the more I found that scientists had compared her work to that of alchemists hundreds of years before her. As a Fullmetal fangirl, it was needless to say it interested me immediately. My development continued rather smoothly, and now you have the first chapter :D**

**Another quick note, this fanfic will mostly have its own plotline since it branches off the end of the movie. There will be several aspects of the manga/Brotherhood as the plot further developes. And yet again, I am writing with several OCs. Let's face it, my original characters are the only things that have me dedicate myself to finishing a story.**

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><p>There was something terribly wrong; Sara sensed it in her bones. She lay frozen in her bed, the comforter tucked tightly over her shoulders, listening intently to what was going on in the floor below her. Nothing, she heard nothing.<p>

Kerstin should be downstairs, rattling pans in the kitchen or polishing the creaky floorboards roughly. Sara half-expected the woman she shared the manor with to suddenly create a clatter, she was waiting to be startled by some loud noise. When no sounds arose, she bit her lip fiercely. The eerie silence was worrying her. Sara sighed, a sharp pain shot through her chest; that was a sign that the disease was spreading to her internal organs now. She hated thinking that she was in such a large house alone, alone in the dark. Kerstin always kept the lights on in the house, even if that meant keeping several candles lit in the windows. Sara felt like a child again, fearing the dark and wishing her guardian would be there to look after her.

She gazed around the room. Moonlit shadows were cast over the room from the window beside her bed. On the nightstand beside her sat a glass of water – a supposed temporary cure for her nausea – and the note Kerstin had left for her telling her that she had left for the city in search of medicine for her and would be back by midnight. That was one of the disadvantages in living in their father's countryside manor, it took so long to get into town and back again for even the littlest things. Not that Sara's condition was little; she had been suffering immensely for days. The red blotches had begun appearing across her skin at the beginning of the week, it took no time at all for her to realize that she was dying. She had quarantined herself to her bedroom, insisting that no one come in to see her. The patches turned into itchy burn-like blisters quickly afterwards with a skyrocketing fever and headache. She was highly contagious, and she was not going to risk anyone else dying around her.

Fear stiffened her tattered body as the sound of a screeching door echoed through the nearly empty halls of the house. When it reached her ears, it sounded like nails on a chalk board or the scream of a child. Sara wanted to investigate the sound, but knew better than to risk passing out on the way down the staircase or, worse, contaminating the entire household. Knowing it was not her half-sister entering the manor, she instead yanked the sheets over her head to hide.

Sets of footsteps shuffled into the foyer, rather loudly. Whoever it was did not seem to care if there was anyone inside or not. Sara figured they thought the house was abandoned or currently empty at the least, she had quickly learned upon her arrival to Germany that no one lived in the country manors anymore. That being said, why would several people come into a house that was supposedly empty? In the back of her mind, the part that had not been consumed by the utter horror of the break-in, Sara was cursing Kerstin for not locking the door on her way out of the house.

"Brother, it isn't empty," a small male's voice protested. "There are people living here. What if they come home…?"

"I say getting caught is better than freezing to death in that wind," a man responded sharply. Sara could tell he was much older than the first voice, and therefore a much more dangerous threat to her. The younger boy sounded like he could not stand the thought of hurting a fly, let alone a weak and bed-ridden woman. She clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms nervously. The blisters on the back of her hands tore open and her skin began stinging terribly. She fought against herself to keep from crying out in pain. "And with a place this big, no one – if anyone at all – will notice us sleeping in one of the extra rooms. We can slip out before sunrise and make it to Munich before noon."

Strangely, that gave Sara a small glimmer of hope. They did not mean to take anything from her father's house as far as she was concerned and they were certainly not there to hurt her. She knew that there were people looking after her, especially after what she had discovered. But her knowledge would disappear off of the face of the earth with her when she passed away, a result of dedication to her research. When their footsteps began to advance up the staircase, her comfort slipped away from her.

Maybe they would not find her; she was rooming at the very end of the hallway, after all. And if they did, maybe they would be too scared of her to even think of staying in the house. She could warn them that she was contagious. She could tell them she was dying and everything in the house was contaminated. That way, they would just leave without harming her or taking anything.

It was growing more difficult to breathe. Sara did not know whether it was because of her disease or that the blankets over her face were filtering less and less oxygen with each breath she sucked in. She was not going to risk sticking her head out for fresh air, especially not when the men's footsteps were trudging down her hallway, closer to her door with every step.

"Brother," the younger boy whispered cautiously, warningly. "I still don't feel right about being in here… What if this is someone's bedroom? That would just be weird."

"Would you rather sleep in the cellar, Al?" the older man demanded fiercely. The boy whimpered. Under the comforter, Sara shuttered, hoping they would turn away from the closed door separating them. "I didn't think so. It will only be for a few hours and we can sleep in shifts if you want to, that way we can get out if anyone threatens to come up here."

Her heart stopped abruptly as her bedroom door swung inward on its hinges. Light from the hallway poured in, illuminating a path directly to the bed against the back wall. The thin comforter covering Sara's body did little to hide her on the bed.

"There's someone in there!" the younger one, Al, hissed through his teeth. "Brother, let's leave!"

Heavy footsteps stomped across the room. The covers were drawn back from Sara's face, releasing her burned skin to the crisp air. The muscles in her face suddenly went numb. She was staring up at the harsh face of a man. Blonde bangs fell over his cat-like yellow eyes and his jaw was firm as he glared down at her. He was studying her skin for the longest time before he moved away from her. He was clearly not scared; maybe he was one of the men after her. Sara felt unbelievably terrified. She could not move. She could hardly breathe. She was a statue staring up at the face of a strange man, who was most likely going to torture her for details of her research. Her death was going to arrive so much faster than she had expected.

"Al," the yellow-eyed man murmured, dropping his head and turning towards his brother. "We can't leave. We have to help her." He looked over his shoulder at Sara, who remained in the fetal position with her arms wrapped around her in fear. "I'm sorry about this. We didn't mean to bother you." The way his gaze softened showed that he had more of a soft spot for women than he had originally led on. "I can help you, though. I know what's on your skin."

Sara rolled over onto her shoulder, facing the door. The yellow-eyed man took a step back, keeping his gaze locked on her. She was able to get a good look at him, dressed in a shabby brown overcoat and hair tied in a ponytail at the back of his head. The younger was just like him; same outfit, same hairstyle only darker toned hair, same strange eyes. She mumbled something inaudible; even she did not know what she meant to say.

"What's your name?" the older brother asked curiously, kneeling beside her bed.

"Je ne parle pas allemande," she rasped sorely, trying to convince him that she did not speak German. Sara was lying directly to his face, but she did not want help from him. He broke into her house, which was especially a reason that she did not want him to be around her. She also knew that, if she lived, she would be killed anyway for the information she had discovered. Those German scientists – the Thule Society or the Nazis or whoever they said they were working for – would be all over her as soon as they realized she survived.

"It's French, Brother, let me ask her," Al insisted, stepping forward. He joined his brother, kneeling beside her bed as if it made him seem better. He did appear nicer, though, his face was not as harsh as his brother's and he was obviously years younger than his sibling. "Quel est votre nom?"

Sara shook her head subtly in protest, trying to insist she was not going to tell them anything. She was scared to death, they should know that. Fear itself was living in her icy blue eyes.

"S'il vous plait?" he persisted politely.

She drew in a death breath. "Saraphine Amsel," she replied hoarsely.

"Amsel?" the older yellow-eyed man echoed. "As in, Sven Amsel? The chemist lecturing at Munich University?"

The invalid woman nodded. "That's my father," said Sara.

"I thought you didn't understand German," Al whispered accusingly. Both Sara and his brother ignored the comment.

"Do you know how you contracted this burns all over your skin?" the older asked, leaning forward as if that was going to bring the answer out of her more easily. There was not possible way that she did not know; she could not have just woken up one day with this type of blisters. Saraphina nodded. "How?"

"I studied the work of Madame Curie in my home country," she sputtered, ending her sentence in a violent fit of coughing. "I repeated several of her experiments and had direct access to the notebooks she used during her original study. The radioactive substances wore off of the pages and onto my skin. That's how I got infected."

"When did this happen?" he continued.

"I noticed the burns about a week ago," Sara answered.

"A last question," the man promised. "Are you the girl that they are searching for? The one who fled France several weeks ago after studying at the University of Paris?"

"Are you part of the organization searching for the girl?" she returned swiftly, her voice wearing out. She sounded as if she had been swallowing nails.

"No," the brothers answered in unison.

Sara nodded slowly. Confidence was slowly washing back into her body. She felt she was safe enough that they were not going to hurt her, safe enough that she could give them the truthful answer. "Yes."

"Do you realize what this means, Al?" the older brother asked.

"No…" the boy muttered.

"It means that we can go home. She knows how to open the Gate without alchemy."

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><p><strong>I hope that you, readers, don't mind I am going to use the worst FMA clichés here. Sara has a sister, it is non-canon, so on and so forth. I doubt this will be a pairing story though, so you will have to bear with that. EdxAiame and AlxAya are the only acceptable Elric brother pairings anyway…<strong>

**Tell me what you think of it! Comments are absolutely loved!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Where Edward runs into stubbornness in every direction.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

Sara knew that she could not trust the pair of brothers. She had just met them after they broke into her father's house, for goodness sake. The blisters across her skin became even more irritated as she snuggled underneath the comforter, hiding from the boys. They had slipped out of the room for a quick second, and she was left wondering what she was going to do. A draft was slipping in through the cracks in her window panes, stinging her burns.

The yellow-eyed man dragged in a chair from the hallway, placing it beside her bed. He plopped down in the seat closest to her head, leaning over to rest his elbows on his knees. "Your condition is called acute radiation syndrome, recently discovered and labeled by one Marie Curie herself," he explained. "Symptoms can range from mild to severe; nausea, vomiting, fever, headaches, and infection of the blood."

"I am aware," she retorted sharply. Sara turned her face away from them, towards the dark window casting looming shadows. She wished that she had the will-power to keep her mouth shut, but the skill was not coming to her as easily as she had hoped. "I knew it was a highly possible risk from the beginning of my research. I know it is caused by the uranium, radium, and polonium from my experiments. I know I contracted the disease when I was studying in Paris. The question is not about my knowledge, though, it is about yours. How do you even know what it's called?"

"You are able to speak very well for someone who tried to convince me she knew not of which the language that I spoke," said Yellow-Eyes, grinning. It sounded as if he was trying to impress her; the sentence structure that he was using was similar to the old lecturers spoke with when addressing students.

Sara scowled. "You are avoiding answering my question," she accused. "Why do you know so much about radiation? Are you a student of my father's at Munich University? He teaches about radioactive substances, too, you know."

"I do know," he confirmed. "And I was a student at the University. At my short time attending classes, though, I was only able to sit in on one of your father's lectures. I have much bigger ambitions now."

"_Bigger ambitions than studying at one of the most renowned schools in Germany?"_ she wondered, shifting to roll onto her shoulder. Her skin was immediately pained and her limb was numbed, but it was worth looking at his face. She detected a mischievous gleam in his eyes, as if he was hiding something from her. Sara could clearly see that he was so it was not worth asking about.

"Why did you study Curie's work?" Yellow-Eyes asked.

Her striking blue eyes were quick to dart from his face to the ceiling directly above her. "Fascination with science? Chemistry and physics? Radioactive substances?" she offered weakly.

Sara's answer obviously did not please him, it was shown through his annoyed expression. The man's mouth was pressed into a straight line and his jaw was clenched. He lowered his eyes, squinting at her. She squirmed under his glare. "No one simply has a fascination with those types of things," he decided firmly.

"You don't know me," Sara protested, pouting her bottom lip childishly. "You broke into my father's manor and are now interrogating me about my own personal business. You don't need the answers I am giving you, we both know that."

"Then why are you giving them in the first place?" Yellow-Eyes smirked. He had won the battle.

"You still don't know me," she muttered angrily, sticking to her original argument. "And I don't want you to know me. I want to get out of this house before my sister returns. Trust me, there will be hell to pay if she finds you here. She is also able to call the police, unlike me. Just get out of this house!" Sara could feel her blood heating in her veins with rage, just like water boiling on the stove about to bubble over. She knew now that she did not want the help that he had promised her, she just wanted him to leave.

"Keep your voice down," he hushed her, "my brother is sleeping in the room you allowed him to next door." Yellow-Eyes leaned back in his chair, relaxing in the light of the lamp on the nightstand. "Besides, Sven talked about his daughter before one of his classes. The light of his life that was finally able to attend the university, the beautiful Kerstin who would never hurt a fly. She would not call the police over."

Sara groaned, rolling onto her back. "He brags about her to all of his classes," she murmured under her breath. She wanted to believe she convinced herself that she was not jealous of her half-sister, but that would be a lie. Her relationship with Kerstin was the classic older sister scenario, she attained all of the attention while Sara was hidden away in her shadow. "I am just the child of the affair come back to haunt him."

Yellow-Eyes' devious grin slipped away from his lips. The light in his golden eyes drooped miserably like a wilting flower. "So that's who you are, Saraphine," he swallowed.

"If I agree to let you stay the night, will you please stop pestering me?" asked Sara. She had given up on his questions, but this did not mean that she had entirely given in. "I heard what you said. You can be off to Munich in the morning like you planned."

The man grunted, wriggling in his chair.

"We are complete strangers to each other," she pointed out. "I see no reason for you to stick around and watch me die; only making it harder for me with your questions. I would honestly feel much better if you just left."

"In that case," he replied, rising to his feet and arching his back to stretch the curled muscles, "Hello." Yellow-Eyes extended a hand down to her to shake. "My name is Edward Elric. I am the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"_Alchemist…?"_ She struggled to bring her hand above the comforter. His chilling fingers and palm wrapped around her tattered flesh, shaking her hand gently. Sara gazed up at him, feeling like a helpless child. The gleam had returned to his eyes and he was smiling. It was not the mischievous smile he had worn before, it was genuinely blithe. "I am Saraphine Amsel," she repeated, "but Sara is fine if you are willing to skip the formalities." She raised her eyebrows curiously, remembering the point she was trying to make with him. "When are you going to leave my house?"

"When the wind lets up," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I have a health issue that requires I stay out of cold weather."

He seemed to be comfortable sharing information with her. Sara assumed that it was a tactic to gain her trust, but she let the instance slide. She could just play along with what he wanted until he left, no harm done. That way, she would not upset him – his temper seemed to be fairly unstable. Sara sank back into the mattress, releasing his cold hand. She would be in the same boat as he is fairly soon, her fever was sure to skyrocket with her other symptoms and cause her to be delirious…

"You should try and not be so rough around the edges," Edward advised her as he turned towards the door. "I can see this is not who you are, and it will be hard to keep up that appearance in the future."

She watched him leave in silence. "What makes you think that I will be spending so much time with you that the act is worth keeping up?" Sara muttered under her breath once he was gone. "You are not _that _special, Edward Elric." He was arrogant, he made that very apparent. She was also suspecting him to have lied to her; he was going to use her for his own personal gain as she originally had thought. Sara knew she could slither out of it, though; she could talk anyone out of anything. She had talked her mother out of sending her to Germany to be with her father several years ago, but her dreams of living in France faded with the woman's passing and no other choice but to be supported by her father.

Sara watched the illuminated doorway, the light of the hallway temporarily blinding her. Where did he think he was going? She had not invited him to free reign of the house. In fact, she had asked him to leave several times. Settling on the fact that he wandered into the room she had made welcome to his younger brother, Sara was able to find peace of mind – a space in her head away from fever and pain and sickness – and coax herself into falling asleep.

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><p>Sometime afterwards, the manor door was opened; blow inward by the fierce wind. Kerstin Amsel stepped inside the warm foyer, breathing in the musky air around her – it smelled the cologne her father wore around her as a child and she was glad that the scent stuck around even after years of cleaning, it was comforting especially after the man stopped wearing the manly perfume. The sharp <em>click <em>of her high-heeled boots amused her immensely as she walked further inside. Tossing her purse onto the table below the glamorous chandelier fixed above the room, Kerstin sighed. The young blonde had spent the past four hours shopping around in the market, searching for a medicine she and her sister both knew did not exist. She was simply trying to give Sara a sense of hope, something to put her faith into. The girl did not deserve to face her own death head-on. She must feel helpless.

Kerstin meandered into the kitchen at the back of the manor. She did not know why she went to that particular room, she was not hungry. Most of her time anyway was spent in the kitchen, whether she was cooking or eating or just sitting at the dinner table. She slumped into the chair at the table, allowing her whole body to fall limp. She contemplated rummaging through the cupboards to find a recipe book that had been touched in years, in hope that after flipping through its pages for ten minutes she would find something worth making for Sara. Kerstin decided against that; it was nearly midnight and she had suffered through a trying day. She could rise early and bake lebkuchens for her. Kerstin knew they reserved the special cookie for Christmas, but seeing as Sara had never tasted one before and she would most likely not make it to the holidays, she thought it would be worth the trouble. Then again, they did have to sit in a tin for a month before tasting anything like they should…

All of the thoughts of death and time were depressing her. Kerstin tapped her foot against the wobbly table leg out of boredom, trying to distract herself. Since she had started school, she had let many things around the house begin to fall apart – just like the table leg. Maybe tomorrow she could convince Sara to come out of her room while she spruced up the manor; not to make her do anything, of course, just to keep her company. There had to be some type of painkillers kept in the cupboards to give her sister, she did not want her to suffer all cooped up in that tiny bedroom.

Just as she had started across the kitchen, Kerstin was stopped, frozen in her tracks, when she heard the patter of footsteps above her head. She turned her chin to the ceiling, trying to follow the sound with her eyes. The thick wooden paneling used to do a well job of hiding Sara's footsteps when she had not been quarantined to her bedroom. Why was it so easy to hear her now? Instead of being overwhelmed with happiness that the vim had returned to her sister, Kerstin was questioning how she could be making so much noise when she was so weak.

"Sara?" she called, her voice carrying echoing up the open stairwell and the dark wood floorboards. "Are you awake? Is everything alright upstairs?"

The footsteps scrambled frantically. It was lucid there was more than one set of feet jostling along the floor. Kerstin's eyebrows knit together as she pursed her lips. Gathering her courage, she tip-toed out of the kitchen and through the hallway to the dark foyer. She sneaked along the edge of the stairs, careful to step on the only part of the board that had not been worn down over the years from constant use. Approaching the second the floor, Kerstin had to stop and ask herself what she planned to do if she found someone other than Sara.

"Sara?" Kerstin whispered, hissing through her teeth. She wanted to be strong, but she knew that no one would take her seriously. Her blonde hair and pale blue eyes matched with the dimple on her cheek gave her the appearance of a girl much younger than she actually was. Sara was strong, she had been strong since the moment Kerstin had met her. She wished she could resemble that quality. People tended to take her for granted; she appeared small and weak and that is how she let people treat her. "What is going on up here?"

"Brother!" a boy's voice reviled lowly. "Get back in here! Saraphine's sister is coming!"

A shadowy figure that was most certainly not her half-sister darted across the end of the extending hallway. Kerstin nearly tumbled back on the stairs; the rocketing fear had thrown her off balance. Then she realized the first boy had said 'Saraphine' and 'sister' which gave her the impression that they were not just strangers. But, even after only knowing her for a month, it was unlike Sara to keep something from her. Especially since inviting over guests was a relatively big deal.

"Who is there?" Kerstin demanded, finding power in her voice. She was sure that her voiced was still wavering, but it was better than being completely terrified. "Who is there?" she repeated, raising her voice. "Answer me!"

"Your sister must have given you acting lessons," a second man murmured to himself. The dark figure emerged from out behind the corner of the hallway. Kerstin whimpered, her grip on the freshly polished handrail tightening. "I'm not a danger, I promise. I am helping your sister."

"Sara doesn't need any help from a stranger," she gasped, backing down the stairwell. Her bravery surprised her, she had no idea that she could still speak. "I can take her to a hospital. She will get just as much help there."

"A hospital has never seen that type of poisoning before, what do you expect them to do?" He was confident, that much was evident. "I promise that I don't mean any harm to either of you."

Kerstin drew in a deep breath. "What's your name?" she whispered. "Why did you come here?"

"My name is Edward Elric. I am here with my younger brother Alphonse. Originally, we saw an abandoned manor and wanted to get out of the wind, nothing more. Your sister has asked me to leave several times already, and I will do so in the morning. For now, though, I am helping her heal," he explained.

Being as trusting of others as she was, Edward Elric's story sank into Kerstin's brain easily. She nodded slowly, cautiously creeping back up the stairs. Unconsciously, she had backed down to the very first step. "I don't want to trust you," she informed. "But I am going to believe you can help Sara." Pressing her hands against the wall as she reached the top step, she felt her way along the wall as she searched for the light switch. Finally, the lights flickered on, illuminating the hallway. She stole a good look at his face.

Golden hair framed his face, strands falling out of the ponytail it had been tied in. Bright golden eyes peered down at her – he was practically a head taller than her on flat feet. His jaw was firm, as if it was clenched. He looked as though he was mad, but Kerstin suspected that was just how his face looked. If he did not have such dark circles under his eyes, she may have considered him to be handsome. Kerstin shot him down with what was meant to be a menacing glare as she stepped around him, heading towards her sister's room.

"Only until morning," she muttered over her shoulder. "You help her until then. For now, I am going to bed."

"You were harsh with her, Brother," Alphonse scolded him once he was tucked away into the bedroom. Edward's head hung low, his bangs masked most of his face. "I don't think we should even be here."

Ed shook his head, sitting down on the edge of the mattress. "I want to get home," he whispered lowly. "I want to go back to our old life."

"What happened to just being happy here?" the younger Elric asked, sitting beside his brother.

"I can't be happy. Not as long as I know there are people there I care for. Not if I have to watch the girl with the information get us home die."

Al was puzzled. "You mean Saraphine is going to die?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

**First off, thank you to the readers and reviewers of the first chapter! I got an awesome response for something I did not think turned out as well it could have.**

**Secondly, characters will become more of…themselves in the next several chapters. I was trying to play up the situation during this chappie and Edward came out on the bolder end of his character spectrum. I apologize for that! Also, Sara and Kerstin will bloom into themselves so they will not be just soulless girls I am throwing into a story. I promise.**

**Until next chapter~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**Where Edward agrees to stay**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

As if on cue, Sara's condition deteriorated overnight. The skin of her face became hot to the touch and several of the blisters on her arms burst open from her thrashing in sleep. A pitcher of water was kept on the nightstand beside her and the lights were left on throughout the night. Edward sat in the chair at her bedside for the remainder of the night, wiping the girl's fragile skin down with a wet cloth periodically.

"As far as I am concerned," Edward began, slowly moving the washcloth down Sara's arm. Droplets of water slid over her burns and soaked into the comforter. Kerstin stood impatiently behind him. He could tell the woman was still uncomfortable around him. "The sickness has only affected her externally. This means that it will be much easier to cure since we obviously do not have access to the drugs required for internal treatment. It will take several weeks of washing her down to remove the radioactive particles from infected cells."

The blonde woman nodded slowly, struggling to comprehend his words. She had never studied anything in science class so advanced before and her father did not bother to tell her anything, she was a literature major! "What exactly does that mean?" Kerstin asked stepping up to her sister's bedside. "Will she be entirely healed?"

"Most likely, no," he sighed, retracting his hand. He turned and rung the cloth out over the pitcher, releasing the stored water. "Sara will be left with several nasty scars on her arms and other places of her anatomy, as well. I have not checked her legs or her torso yet…" The faintest color of blush dusted Edward's cheeks.

Kerstin crossed her arms under her chest; the sheer nightgown she had pulled on was pulled tightly over her shoulders and chest by doing so. She ignored the color slowly flooding his face. "You mean to tell me that you have not been healing her other limbs?" she asked, raising her voice as she vented. She could see Edward's shoulders grow tense, probably at her tone. "I apologize for yelling."

"You're worried," he dismissed, dunking the washcloth into the pitcher again. Edward lifted Sara's dry arm and pulled it over her chest, beginning to slowly rub the cloth against her irritated skin. "And you have good reason to, so I don't mind."

She looked hesitantly from the back of his head to her sister lying helpless. Sara was wheezing; she was having trouble breathing. "Is there anything I can do? Get you something to eat or change out her bed sheets?" Kerstin offered.

The corners of his mouth turned up as he glanced over his shoulder at her. "You're too kind to strangers," Edward observed. "No, thank you, I don't need a thing. Although, I may be going to bed soon so the pitcher of water will need washed out thoroughly and refilled in the morning. Do that if you are willing to help."

"Refill pitcher, got it." Kerstin turned for the bedroom door. "Should I check on your brother?"

"Yes, please," he answered quietly, returning to his work. From the look of it, Sara's skin will have dried out entirely and will be too flakey to wash in the morning. He would have to stay longer than until sunrise if he was going to finish what he started. Edward would not focus be able to focus on his work in Munich if he left her after this, knowing that she was still sick. Beside, Sara could not die; she knew how to get them home to Amestris. "I am almost certain that he is asleep by now, though."

The blonde shrugged, her hair falling limply over her shoulders. "I will be careful not to wake him, then," she promised as she stepped into the hallway. Kerstin was nowhere near feeling relaxed around Edward, but she was willing to trust he could help Sara. She drummed her fingers gently against the door next door, and when there came no answer, she assumed that Alphonse had fallen asleep.

The rest of the night continued smoothly. Edward eventually retired to the shared room with his brother. He fell asleep quickly after the exhausting night he had, though, not quickly enough that he was able to keep the thoughts of going home from his mind. He felt bad that he was using the girl while she was injured – and most likely dying – for his own reasons. But Alphonse was not happy in this world; he may be good at hiding it but Ed picked up on it eventually. He wanted nothing more than for Al to be happy. On the bed beside Edward's, Alphonse was also happily dreaming. Sara had been out for hours by then. Kerstin had tucked herself into bed, finding herself staring at the ceiling for what seemed like forever. She finally found her peace of mind when she remembered that the pair of brothers would be gone in the morning. Somehow, though, that was not enough.

When morning arrived, Kerstin invited the boys to anything in their kitchen if they found it. She was indebted to Edward for his effort to help her sister and felt that she needed to show it. After rinsing out the tin pitcher they had used to hold water in with bleach, washing it, and then refilling it with water, Kerstin returned upstairs. She tiptoed into Sara's room, eager to find her awake.

Merely hours after the yellow-eyed man had begun treatment, Kerstin could see the color returning to the brunette's face. Tousles of chestnut hair fell around her face, resting in unkempt knots on the pillow. Burns and blisters on her face had been slightly reduced; they were not as inflamed as they had been earlier. Kerstin pulled her silk sleeves over clenched fists to protect her hands from the infected cells – Edward had informed her that they spread easily. She gently nudged Sara's shoulders, trying to shake her awake. Sapphire eyes fluttered open; Kerstin could see their resemblance when she looked into her sister's eyes, they had both inherited the color of their irises from their father.

"You can't take anything from me!" Sara screamed, about arching off of the bed. Her eyes were pale and hollow, as if she was seeing a dream and not her sister's face. Suddenly, she began withering under Kerstin's touch, struggling to break away from her state of fear. She released a deep sigh and proceeded to take shallow breaths until she was able to calm herself down. Tears had stained her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she murmured, "I'm sorry."

"What…" Kerstin stopped, unable to think of what she was going to say. She was at a loss. "What was that?" She was gasping now.

"Nightmare," Sara sniffled, wiping her nose.

"Don't do that," the blonde scolded, yanking Sara's blistered hand away from her face. "Your face is healing and I don't need the infected cells travelling in through your mouth."

"I am sorry if I startled you, Kerstin," she apologized, her voice muffled as she coughed into her sleeve. Sara settled into silence, she closed her eyes again as if she was trying to fall asleep again. Dark circles had formed under eyes, despite the hours of much-needed sleep. Her body was weak; the blisters on her skin had either worsened or begun peeling which must have been bothersome. "I was just scared."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Nightmares tend to go away when you talk about them," the older sister informed. "What was the dream about?"

Sara sighed. "I do not want to cause another burden for you," she said. "I am one enough just being here, we have only known each other for a month."

"Thank god that you fled France," Kerstin smiled reassuringly, taking the risk to stroke her sister's hair. "I love having you here. I would be deathly lonely without you here. Now, why don't you tell me?"

"I was in…an entirely white void – that much is still vivid. I don't remember much else. Well, except that I was sitting before this huge black doorway. It towered over me. I was so scared," her voice cracked and Sara broke off, panting. Sweat had begun to trickle over her forehead; she was really worrying about this. "Then there was this voice, it may have been a woman's but it was too difficult to tell. It told me that I was going to be punished for summoning 'The Gate' which I did not understand at all. I did not want anything to be there, I wanted to be here. Then the voice started laughing and, the next thing I knew, some invisible force was sucking my legs away from me. I was just disappearing before my own eyes…"

Kerstin nodded reassuringly, smiling gently like it was a silly child's dream. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "But I can promise you that you have both of your legs."

"Why did you wake me?" Sara asked, shaking her head to clear her mind.

"It was worrying me that you were sleeping so long," the blonde admit. It was not the whole reason she had wanted to find Sara awake, but it sounded more reasonable than telling the truth. "I suppose that I should let you sleep now."

Sara's eyes lit up in realization, she grinned knowingly. "Kerstin Amsel, do you mean to tell me that you do not want to be left alone with the man kind enough to be paying me a house call?" Her bickering with Yellow-Eyes – _Edward _– the previous night had nothing to do with the fact that she owed him her life. She could at least convince Kerstin to like him since she did not.

"Now that you mention him, I should go tell Edward that you are awake. He will want to know." Kerstin gave her one last, measly smile as she stepped away from the bedside. She felt that she had been smiling more lately, even if there was not much to smile about. Figuring that everyone just needed a smile at a time like this, Kerstin proceeded out of the bedroom.

She took her time travelling through the manor. After living in the house her entire life, the extravagance of things had seemed to wear down; it was only times that she chose to pay attention to the manor that Kerstin saw its beauty. The dark, hardwood staircase that curved around the wall creaked underneath her weight, causing Kerstin to recall a time as a young girl pretending she was a glamorous movie star gliding down the stairs. Of course, at the time, she had weighed only about half as much as she did now and glided down without a sound. She carefully continued through the foyer, the wood gleaming in the morning sunlight. Silverware clanging against plates in the kitchen could be heard at this point. Kerstin was somewhat glad that the brothers had helped themselves to whatever food they had. She drew in every detail of the extensive hallway – from the scratches from her mother's high heels on the floor to the smudges on the walls from who knows what, after surviving years of cleaning – until she finally stepped inside the kitchen.

Edward and Alphonse were seated across from each other at the dining table, plates of eggs placed before both of them. Al appeared to be pushing the food around his plate politely while Ed was clearing enjoying what could have been assumed to be his cooking. "_So he is a doctor and a chef_?" Kerstin thought with a sarcastic smirk. She slid into the seat beside the younger brother.

"I woke her up to check on her," she informed, folding her hands delicately in her lap. Kerstin could see the obvious question forming on Edward's tongue, light brightening his eyes. "She seemed fine. She could speak in complete sentences and had no memory troubles. I do not think that she slept very well, though. Sara had a nightmare." Kerstin shrugged it off casually.

It might look too strange to ask what the nightmare had been about, so Edward kept his mouth shut. He shoveled another bite of eggs into his mouth. Lines of worry were already beginning to form in Kerstin's face. He had a feeling that it was his being in her home that was causing her such distress. "I am sure it was the fever's doing," he dismissed. Edward took his plate and began to rise from his seat.

"You don't have to go if you aren't finished eating," said Kerstin. She was looking at him softly.

"I promised that I would leave this morning, I would like to keep to that," Edward insisted, slowly sitting back down. "I will check on her once more, though, before I leave."

"What are you planning to do in Munich?" the blonde sister asked sharply. She may not particularly like having him in the house, but it was better than watching Sara die without any hope of living at all.

He raised his eyebrows curiously. "Nothing extremely important," Edward answered. "I was actually planning on talking with your father about chemistry research."

"I would like for you to stay and take care of Sara," she requested. She waited for the disgusted reaction that did not come. "I know that it is not as productive as talking with my father, but I can always speak with him about stopping home if you stay. I just…don't want to see her go without the hope in her eyes. She deserves better."

To their surprise, "Yes" was his answer.

**WOWIE! This story is so much more popular than I expected it to be. For that, I would like to thank my readers/reviewers. Your responses are just awesome. Also, there was a bit of character development and plot development in here! Not so much plot development but oh well… Sue me! **

**Hoping you enjoyed it, until next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**Where Edward learns what Sara did.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

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><p>As much as Edward wanted to believe that he was a good person for agreeing to help Sara, he could not deny that he had other incentives than just keeping her from the brink of inevitable death. He had returned to the invalid's bedroom, tucked away in the back corner of the hallway, after his breakfast. His stomach was still rumbling hungrily and Kerstin had offered him another serving, but he continued on anyway, muttering to himself what a terrible human being he would be to choose food over visiting Sara for five minutes. He found her asleep, her body twisted in the thin comforter that had been strewn over her. Edward plopped down into the chair at her bedside.<p>

Sara's face was relaxed, her lips were slightly parted and her eyes fluttered open and closed, as if she was trying to wake herself up. Even so, with the weakness brought on by the radiation poisoning and all, Edward could see that she really was tough. For any girl that he had ever met, anyways. He felt partially at fault for letting this go on, he could not merely keep her fever under control. But, then again, what could he do? That would be the first thing he would do, now that he was staying in their house for a while, he would try and bring down her fever. Sara shifted; her movements, even in sleep, her limited by the blisters lacing her skin. That would be the next, Edward decided; he could heal the burns at the same time as the fever.

"Did you really come in here just to watch me sleep?" Sara grumbled. She rubbed her eyes, rolling over slowly to face away from him. "That seems rather perverted, don't you think?"

He shook his head, not in the least bit embarrassed. Edward had found that as he matured, he began treating people in Germany differently than how he had treated people in Amestris. As much as it went against his character, he tried to respect others. He could clearly see that he had hardly acted that way around Sara and Kerstin, though; but he liked to think had reason enough to justify that. "Not at all," he said. "In fact, I just came into the room to wake you."

"Of course you did," she agreed sarcastically.

Something about her tone of voice reminded him that he would have to undress her later, to examine her other limbs like Kerstin had requested that he do. "_That is going to be awkward,_" he thought, "_I hardly know her._" He would just have to bear it for now if he wanted to learn whatever Sara knew to send him and Alphonse back home, and doing that was worth any price to him at this point.

"Wait a minute," Sara interrupted his train of though. "It has to be late morning by now. What are you still doing here?"

"Your sister asked me to stay and take care of you," Edward answered. "What was I supposed to do? Say no?"

She frowned. "Kerstin is a big girl, she could have handled it." Sara twisted around to look over her shoulder at him. The gleam in her icy blue eyes reflected pain that the rest of her face would not dare to show.

"That does not change the fact that I am staying," he protested with a smirk. The argument that had been forming in Sara's mind the second he opened his mouth faded away. There was nothing she could say. Her face fell. "Are you really that upset because you are going to have to deal with me for a longer amount of time?"

Sara sighed, "Not as much as I thought I would be. I suppose I should be happy, though. But I should inquire about your method of healing me. Is washing me down really the only system you have?"

"I plan on sending either Alphonse or Kerstin back into Munich sometime in the next few days; they should be able to buy you morphine to dull the pain and supplies to disinfect your skin. They can probably get their hands on a burn kit, if they are lucky." Edward paused, studying her face. It was so clear to him that he had never seen her before in his life – there were no traces of German or Amestrian about her – but he seemed to keep thinking that he had. He may not have seen her directly, but there was someone he knew who looked similar. "I have friends working in the pharmacy just off of campus."

Her dark brows scrunched together, her expression was an overdramatic mask. "Does this mean you have made a habit of tending to complete strangers or do you actually have friends?" Sara teased.

She watched as that mysterious glaze drifted over his yellow irises. Sara knew that she was not going to get an answer out of him. "Friends, believe it or not," he told her. "It helps to have a lot of them."

"That's untrue," she spat without thinking; "If I had clung to my friends in France, the ones studying chemistry at least, then I would have dragged them down with me. Last I checked, no one wants the Nazis running after them. Or the Thule Society, but they don't have strength in numbers; they have strength in insanity…" Sara cut her rant short, knowing that Edward did not want to hear it. He was a blond German; he was probably a Nazi himself.

"I can't argue with that," Edward sighed. "They gave my brother and me quite a bit of trouble a few years back."

"I can't imagine anyone having a problem with Edward Elric," she remarked, rolling her eyes.

He shrugged, smiling playfully. "You are a scientist, like me. You don't look at things creatively, you look at logically. There is no room for imagination." Edward said this like he had known her for years, like he knew her. Period.

Strangely enough, he had been spot-on. That was how Sara thought in problematic situations; she did not see out-of-the-box explanations for things, she saw paths leading directly to answers. "Yes, and if I did not, I would not be lying here, I would not know what I do, and you would not be here to help me."

"Are you ever going to tell me what you discovered in France?" Edward asked, unable to contain his question any longer. That was what he honestly wanted to know, nothing more. Everything else was just small, trivial details. Trying to seem like he was not interrogating her, he reached to the nightstand and dabbed the washcloth in the pitcher. He began stroking her still forehead gently, waiting impatiently for an answer.

Sara nodded, understanding. For the first time, she saw his motives. She cursed herself for being oblivious. "So that is why you stayed," she observed calmly. "You hoped you could gain my trust, thinking you could learn of my alchemic knowledge." She knew how idiotic she sounded speaking of alchemy, the long dead chemistry alternative, but that was the only thing it could possibly be called. That was what it was.

"_Alchemy_," he thought with a smile. "Not entirely," he lied smoothly. "But it is a piece of information I would like to get my hands on. I want to know how to open the portal." Edward was hoping that telling her this would show her he knew what he was talking about. He continued to blot the tip of the washcloth around her face.

"I thought I could hide it if I moved to Germany with Kerstin," she muttered, shaking her head, knotting her hair around her face. "But then I ran into the Nazis and the Thule Society, which made it just that much worse. They want to know how to open the portal, too. Apparently, they tried several years ago and lost their knowledge. Since then, I have been plagued with nightmares of the Gate and being sucked through it."

That did not add up to Edward; if she was at the Gate, it would take something from her, not take her to Amestris. "Where did it take you?" he asked, curiously, leaning forward.

"Some other world," she replied, exasperated. Sara's blue eyes had veered from his face and to an old memory. "But when I got there, I was in too much pain from having my limbs taken away from me to notice anything specific."

Somehow, even though he knew he should be providing comfort, Edward was glad that her story – at least that much of it – was fitting together. He has still yet to learn how she can send him home. Edward had tried oh-so many times with the old method of Amestrian alchemy and failed, he was praying she had an alternative or modified way of opening the Gate. "Have you actually opened the Gate? How do you know it's real?"

"I opened it," Sara clarified. "Only once, though." Memories of the tugging on her limbs and burning of her inner organs flooded her, making her want to tear herself apart. She was lucky she had been interrupted or something worse than her poisoning may have happened. "It could not take anything from me since I did not take any of its information, but I am certain that it sped up my radiation poisoning."

Edward had frozen in his chair. He was staring at Sara, lost in her words. She gave him a confused look, hoping to draw his attention back. He had given her the impression that he already knew what she was telling him, she was merely confirming it. Sara was worried now that she had told him too much.

"I should not have told you that," Sara sighed. "Any of that."

He nodded. "I understand. But it is nice to know that you can open the Gate without true alchemy, my brother and I may be able to go home."

"On the other side?" she gasped, her blue eyes widening.

The conversation was dragging on longer than Edward would have liked. He rose from his chair, extending his hand to her to help her sit upright. "You asked about my means of healing you?" he reminded. "New treatment begins right now."

She clenched her hands into fists. "No," Sara protested.

"If there is any chance of becoming infected, trust me, I already would have been. Let me help you up," Edward requested. Reluctantly, Sara reached up to grab his hand. She struggled to pull herself into a sitting position, but had no trouble swinging her feet to the floor afterwards. Her hand felt dried out to the touch. He assisted her in hobbling into the hallway. By the time they had reached the doorway, she was feeling light-headed and resting her forehead on his shoulder.

"Is the point of taking me out of the room to show me just how weak I have become?" asked Sara in between staggered breaths.

"No," he assured.

"Then where are you taking me?" She glanced up, watching Edward open the door across the hall from her bedroom. The trip felt much longer to her than it actually was. "The w.c.? Why are you taking me into the w.c.?"

"Did you think I was going to let you sit in your bedroom, with the highest radiation levels in the entire house, when you could be clean and, say, spending time downstairs?" He helped her into the small room, allowing her to lean on the sink counter. "You need to be entirely washed down and redressed before I can let you do that, though."

"What?" she demanded, her voice wavering to reflect her wooziness. Even Sara's eyes were spinning and cloudy.

Edward's arm slipped out from behind her, taking away her support. She leaned helplessly against the wall. He turned around, reaching down for the handles on the bathtub. With several twists of the far knob, hot water was running through the pipes and spilling into the tub. Behind him, Sara was ranting in French – mainly cursing him out. He smirked.

"I understand what you are saying, you know," he grinned. "I at least know how to cuss in French."

Sara's lips pressed into a firm line as she glared at him. For some reason, her expression was not nearly as menacing as she would have liked it to be. Edward decided that was because her face was still covered with burns.

"There is not a single part of the female anatomy that I have not already seen," Edward promised sincerely. "So, if that is what you are worried about, let it go."

"Why suddenly decide to do this?" she inquired.

"You have burns on places other than your arms, correct?"

Sara grumbled, "Yeah."

"That's why," he confirmed. "We don't need you to be sitting in that room, in the same dirty nightgown, and soaking up immense amounts of radiation. Now, are you going to be difficult and take it off by yourself?"

She pouted, folding her arms below her chest. "It is not going to happen," she hissed fiercely. "Not with you in here, at least."

"Saraphine, you cannot stand without help. How do you expect me to leave you alone if I have to worry about you drowning?" Edward asked rhetorically. "Besides, Kerstin asked me to. She is worried."

Sara found herself without an argument against that. "I will strip when you do."

"Really? You'll wait that long? I thought the French were all about taking their clothes off!" he exclaimed tauntingly.

Annoyed, Sara had already began yank her arms out of her sleeves. She stopped abruptly, glaring at him. "You first," she insisted, waiting patiently as she stared at him.

He was fed up. "Fine!" Edward spat. He pulled his dress shirt over his head, wadded it into a ball, and tossed it to the counter behind her. Quickly, he turned to shut off the running water.

Sara could not help but gawk at him. She had expected their combined stubbornness to put off the event for several hours, or if she was lucky, days. Instead, she was now staring at the lean muscles of his back tense as he twisted the handles to turn off the bathwater. Not like she had not seen a man shirtless before, she had just never seen one like Edward. Thankfully, Sara was able to wipe the expression from her face before he turned around. However, she found herself even more amazed when he turned around to face her. His right arm was constructed entirely of metal plating that connected to a port on his shoulder. She had never seen anything like it before. Sara was certain that science was nowhere near developing a prosthetic limb so advanced.

"What is that?" she breathed.

"Automail," Edward told her. "A woman I know on the other side of the Gate made it for me."

Still gaping at the sight, the words passed right through Sara's mind. "Why would you tell me that?" she asked, before continuing to mumble to herself, "It really makes up for not having an arm…?"

"You have opened the Gate yourself, you told me that. Why should I spare you of the truthful explanation if you know exactly what I am talking about?" He shrugged. "Are you going to cooperate like you said you would now?"

The brunette grumbled. He had walked her right into that one. "You are very persistent to see me undress, Edward," Sara chastised him. Nausea flooded her head suddenly; she closed her eyes, trying to keep her balance. She rested her head on the wall, trying to overcome losing the contents of her stomach. She could mentally deal with slowly dying out, but the symptoms that followed were slightly more than she could handle all at once.

"Not at all, I am persistent to help heal you," he corrected. Edward was struggling to keep his patience with her, Sara was acting almost childish.

Eventually, he was able to coax her into following 'the doctor's orders'. Sara had kicked him out of the bathroom while she slid into the tub, draping a towel over the edges so that only her head and shoulders were visible in the water. Edward returned inside, bringing in fresh bars of soap and towels with him. Sara convinced him she was feeling well enough to handle it herself, and that he was more than welcome to leave the room. Finally, he gathered both his shirt and her nightgown off of the floor and went to bury them outside. About twenty minutes later, he found her sitting on the edge of her bed, dressed in baggy trousers and a man's dress shirt.

"I thought it best if I found clothes to wear that had not been infected yet," she shrugged.

"So did I," said Edward, pulling on the collar of the oversized work shirt he had also stolen from one of the empty manor bedrooms.

The two stood in silence for what seemed like an extensive amount of time.

"So," Sara sighed at last, "are you going to tell me more about the other side of the Gate or are you going to leave me wondering hopelessly why you want my knowledge to send you back?"

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><p><strong>Lots of talking in this chapter, and a tad of fanservice for the fangirls who are good at imagery :D It helped the plot advance, though, so I am pleased with how it turned out overall. Also, I was able to share some of the useless knowledge I have of the WWII time period. The w.c. is an old European term used for the bathroom, standing for "water closet", in case anyone was wondering. I want my fanfiction to sound as correct as possible to the time period.<strong>

**Another note, I apologize for the lack of Alphonse in this story. It is strange seeing as he is my favorite character but has made all of one appearance in this story. He will be in the next chapter! Woot!**

**Until I next update~**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**Where Sara makes a promise that is so rudely interrupted.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

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><p>A week had passed since the incident in the bath, and since then everyone had grown accustomed to living with each other. Edward deemed the second floor of the house to be too poisoned to live in safely, so the four residents were staying on the couches in the parlor and the living rooms. It seemed to Sara that even if she was allowed to wander through the house, she was being quarantined to the parlor away from everyone else. She kept to herself in the parlor, unable to bring herself to meander out of the room. At least she had the chance to read the newspaper now and again, just to scan for any news on the Nazi troops that were assembling. Sara had a feeling that it would be a while before anyone caught on to where she was. However, despite that slight comfort, it still pained Sara to listen to the others gab into the late hours of the night and their echoing laughter.<p>

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon was one of the original seven wonders of the ancient world. Edward was learning quite a lot about them, whether he wanted to or not. Kerstin had insisted that they sleep on the porch, which was fenced in with glass like a greenhouse, her favorite room in the manor. There was what used to a rain gutter nailed up just below the ceiling that had been filled with potting soil. Leafy green plants that Edward had no name for had been planted in the gutters and hung down over the room, along with bright flowers that he had never seen before – at least not in Germany, he had not. Old armchairs and sofas had been lined up along the walls, a coffee table sitting in the center of the room. Kerstin explained to him that it had been designed after the Hanging Gardens, which had been built by a Babylonian king for his homesick wife. The way she spoke of the story made Edward think that she liked the story for the romantic aspect of it, but Kerstin insisted that it was because she wanted to travel the world. Whether his assumption was correct or not, it was clear that it was easier on everyone to be spending the night in such a cheery place.

"Sara talks in her sleep, you know," Alphonse informed, musing mostly to himself. He was comfortably sprawled out on the sofa on the porch, mesmerized by the swaying plants dangling above him. "When you and Kerstin traveled into Munich yesterday, and I had to keep an eye on her, Sara began mumbling about being homesick. She wants to go back to France."

Kerstin smiled, nodding. She was brushing her blonde hair up into a bun at the top of her head. "That should not be a surprise," she replied, looking up at him from her seat on the floor. She was sitting at the table, with papers and an assortment of pens strewn across the tabletop. For days now she had tried to return her focus on the paper she had to write for her classes at university. After hours upon hours of thinking, she was still staring at a blank slate. "In the beginning, right after she moved in with me, Sara tried to convince me that she was glad to be here. I could see it in her eyes that she hated every minute of it, though. She did get better at hiding it."

"It is hard to think that someone could grow that close to a university after only a year," the younger Elric cogitated. He reached up lazily, running his hand down the vine above him slowly. He, like Kerstin, found himself amazed with the Hanging Gardens. "France must have been wonderful."

Kerstin raised her light eyebrows curiously. "What are you talking about, Alphonse?" she asked. "Sara has always lived in France. She grew up there."

"Then why have you always lived here with your father?" Edward piped up, bringing attention to him across the room. He had his nose buried within the pages of a research journal, written by non-other than Sven Amsel. He was wondering if Sara would ever write about her own research, which is if the Thule Society and the Nazis were not looking to open the Gate again and going after her. He was now capturing Kerstin with the intensity of his golden eyes.

"My mother and my father were both German, both of them were studying to be teachers when they met. Of course, when I was born, I would stay within the country. My father liked to travel, however, and once he took the job at Munich, he began lecturing in other countries about the development of chemistry and physics. He actually lived in Paris for a year, which is when he met Sara's mother. He claims it was a brief affair; that he was drunk out of his mind and did not know what he was doing, but either way it resulted in Sara. Apparently, both of my parents knew about her and sent her mother money for childcare. I had no idea about any of this until Sara wrote to my father, requesting a place to live after her mother passed away at the beginning of the summer." Kerstin shrugged her shoulders with a sigh, taking hold of her pen again as if an idea had come to her.

The story was difficult for Edward to wrap his head around. At home, in Amestris, once two people were married, that is how it stayed. They remained faithful to each other, at least in Risembool. It was unheard of that a couple break up or have an affair. Thinking that Saraphine was the child of such a betrayal was a tad heartbreaking. "That is why this world is going to the dogs," Edward dismissed, lying back on the couch, "mark my words."

"Brother," Alphonse scolded. "Just because you don't consider it our world does not mean that you should speak of it like that. How do you know what you're even talking about?"

"Jeez, Al…" Edward muttered.

Kerstin brought herself to glare at the older Elric brother. She was clearly confused; her blue eyes were spinning with questions. "He is right, though, Alphonse," she reassured sadly. "He knows more of what you are talking about than you would think." She had discovered that it was simply easiest if you play along with their conversations, pretend to know what they were talking about, and occasionally comment.

"I am going to check on Sara," the golden haired man announced, dodging another chastising from his brother and Kerstin. He placed the book on the coffee table beside Kerstin's papers and rose from the couch, casually strutting from the room.

"He marches around this place like he owns it," mumbled Kerstin sourly under her breath as she watched him leave.

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><p>Edward slipped in to the parlor quietly. Sara was lying on the sofa with her back facing him, a thin blanket draped over her waist. A window illuminated the room just above her, allowing cheerful light to pour into the room. He advanced toward her, trying to see over her shoulder if she was sleeping or not. Her brunette locks hid most of her face away from him. "Sara?" he whispered.<p>

The girl tossed in her sleep, rolling onto her other shoulder to face him. She was squinting, trying to remain asleep. "What?" she spat, her voice rasping.

"I just came in to check on you," he answered, holding his hands up defensively. Her icy eyes were enthralled by the swift movements of his automail appendage.

"Aren't you so kind?" Sara remarked sarcastically. "I was trying to fall asleep."

"I can see that." Edward could also see that the blisters that used to cover her face had faded; the worst were only red blotchy patches. Scars did make themselves prominent around her hairline, however, which did not have hope of disappearing for quite some time. "Do you need anything?"

She sighed dramatically. "You don't have to keep up with the doctor act, you know," she murmured. "I know why you want to help me. I don't mind if you slack off a little bit. Besides, this is the best time to do it since I am actually feeling healthy."

"You are the farthest thing from being healthy," he reminded her bluntly, his golden eyes flashing.

"I know," Sara confirmed. "But that doesn't mean that I don't feel like I am."

Edward nodded, understanding. He moved to sit on the floor, cross-legged beside her head. "I should probably keep you awake for a while longer," he mused. "You have been sleeping since last night."

"Are you trying to get more information out of me?" she asked, her mind trailing back to all of the formulas and ingredients that she had not told him the first time that he had asked about her research. Sara knew that, even if what she had discovered had been leaked, he would have to go through her trouble of figuring everything out so it was precise all over again.

"No, no, not unless you are willing to tell me anything." Edward grinned happily.

"Of course not," Sara sniffed. "Do you want to tell me what it was like on the other side of the Gate?"

"I don't see why I shouldn't," he shrugged. It was a surprise to Sara because she had honestly been expecting him to have a rotten attitude about it. Edward watched her dreary gray-blue eyes brighten to their normal dazzling beryl in interest. It was one of the best reactions that she had given in several days. "That world reminds me of this one, they are more similar than you would think. The names for things are different, and the places aren't the same, but I have seen plenty of familiar faces."

Sara cocked her head to the side slightly. "Really?" she asked. "Am I familiar to you at all?" She bat her eyelashes, as if that would stir up his memory of her.

"No," replied Edward. "I haven't seen a combination of hair and eyes like yours; your hair would probably indicate that you are Drachman but your eyes are too much like Winry's to confirm that. There are plenty of girls in my home world that look like Kerstin, though. Still, I haven't seen an exact match for either of you."

"Who is Winry?" she inquired, allowing her curious side to shine through. Sara was finding that the more time she spent talking with Edward, the more she was letting her guard down around him. It was like she was growing closer to him, even though she did not want to.

"She is my automail mechanic."He lifted up his metal prosthetic limb for emphasis. Sara made a sound of acknowledgement. "Anything else you want to know?"

"You didn't tell me much," Sara grumbled, thinking it was a bit soon for him to get fed up with talking to her.

He sighed. "It just…it hurts to talk about it sometimes, especially when Al isn't around. I don't want to get choked up."

Sara could hear the unsteadiness in his voice, see the tears swelling along the bottom rim of his eyes, and sense how vulnerable he truly was. "It is your home, your true home. Why shouldn't you?" she tried to comfort him. In truth, it was awkward seeing him so weak. In that moment, she saw one thing to say that could pull the heart-wrenching sorrow away from his face. "I will help you open the Gate."

Edward's face tensed, his expression growing unreadable. He had never meant for her to say that.

"On one condition," she continued sharply, not wanting him to think she had suddenly turned soft. "You have to take me with you."

His mouth immediately opened in protest, but he was at a loss for words. Edward waited to say something, as if telling her off was just going to come to him. "You can't do that," he said finally. "I can't let you do that."

Sara froze. Edward thought it was because she had nothing to fight back with, but he soon realized it was because she heard a car pull up to the front of the manor. The engine cut short, her heart leapt in fear. Sara knew it would be her father walking through the door, only to find her poisoned and two strangers living with them now. She wanted to tell them to hide, but there was no time. The front doors flew open. Before she knew it, Sven was crossing the hallway and stopped abruptly when he came past the doorway into the parlor.

"What the devil is going on here?" he sneered through his teeth.

* * *

><p><strong>I don't exactly have much to say about it. I hope it was good enough. I haven't had a very good day, especially since people have been strongly doubting my writing skills. Hopefully I can keep this story up and running through a slight depression, or I can just channel my anger and sadness into an original book I have been meaning to get to since forever…<strong>

**By the way, anyone who can tell me where I got Sven's only line from gets a cookie.**

**Until next chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

**Where Edward and Sara escape.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

* * *

><p>"What the devil is going on here?"<p>

Sven Amsel stood in the parlor doorway, his sharp eyes glaring into the room. Edward noticed that the blue irises were cloudy and his pupils were graying. The way his eyes darted aimlessly around the parlor hinted that he could not see very well. Edward shifted, bringing his feet under him so he could rise to his feet. He did not dare make any big movements; he could see that he was in enough trouble as it was at the moment. Sven advanced into the room, Edward tensed. A Nazi pin was clipped the collar of his coat.

"_Please just let him play innocent,_" Sara thought. She squeezed the hem of her blanket nervously, wrapping it around her fingertips and pulling at it roughly. "_I do not need to deal with anything else right now._"

"Who are you?" Sven demanded, stomping angrily into the parlor. His light eyebrows were knit together and his lips were pressed into a thin line. "What are you doing in my house?"

Behind him, Sara stammered, stumbling amongst her words as she searched for an answer. Edward could hear that she was having difficulty separating two languages; French words seem to slip into her apologies and explanations. He slowly brought his hands around to his back, flexing them as if to tell her to stop talking in her panic. He did not need her to wear herself out trying to make excuses to her father; she was going delirious enough with the fever as it was. Her beryl eyes flashed with frustration at him, but her mouth snapped shut.

Edward held out his hand politely, thinking it best to stick to formalities. "My name is Edward Elric, sir," he introduced himself. "My brother and I have been looking after Sara."

"Where do you come from?" the older man hissed viciously. "Your eyes aren't German."

He was still waiting patiently for Sven to shake his hand. Edward thought the man was lucky he did not want him to touch his automail; that would have gone over much worse. "Can't say," Edward remarked stubbornly. "I have been all over the place, most recently in Munich. This was very fortunate for your daughter."

Sven eyed him cautiously, as if Edward's hand was going to bite him. "What have you done to her, Elric?" he sneered, his icy eyes narrowing. "What's wrong with her?"

"_Oh my God,_" thought Sara. "_I did this to myself!_" She scowled at her father, glad her face was hidden by Edward.

"She is suffering through what is called acute radiation syndrome," Edward explained, "Well, I suppose it is not so acute anymore. The symptoms are fever, nausea, infection of the blood, and burns across the skin. I have been helping cure her for the past weeks since it would be in her best interest to stay out of the hospital." He dropped his hand slowly, resting it at his side, seeing as Sven had no concern for formalities. "I can promise that I did not do a thing to her."

"Tell me, then, Elric," he spat, emphasizing his name cruelly. "Why are you exposing yourself to such a fatal disease if you just meet Sara a week ago?"

Edward's gaze on the blonde, obviously aged man focused suspiciously. Sven Amsel knew more than he was letting on; he was slightly ashamed that he had not seen through the act sooner. "I never said that it was fatal," said Edward with raised eyebrows.

Sara grinned. Any worry that she had about the confrontation had melted away. She was now more concerned that her own father was trying to lie. It was surprising that she was already recognizing the man as her father, considering that she has known him for only a month and talked to him all of four times.

"I am not dealing with this," Sven announced. "Get out of my house." He pointed to Sara. "I want the whole story."

It was as if Edward had used cleaner to wipe the cloudiness from his eyes. He was going to use his own daughter for the same reason that he originally had. Sven Amsel, the genius chemistry professor that lectured at Munich University, was planning to exploit Saraphine for his own research – most likely, anyway, but there were plenty of other reasons why he would want her information and her knowledge. "I am not leaving," he protested defensively, "and certainly not with Sara on the brink of death."

Sara was momentarily confused. Edward was reading into things, she could tell. Even she was having trouble processing the motives of the two men in the room. She cleared her throat, bringing attention to herself. "No," she interrupted, just as Sven had opened his mouth. "It would be best if Edward leaves. But you should know that I plan on going with him."

Edward glanced down on her, surprised at her declaration. He was seeing numerous knew sides of her now that it was trouble to keep up the act of stubbornness.

"Fine, then," Sven sighed. "In that case, I want you both out of this house by the morning."

Seeing that Sara was struggling to rise from the couch in her condition, Edward slung his arm under hers and assisted her to hobble out of the parlor. He fought back against himself to keep from scowling at the blonde professor as he practically dragged Sara from the room. Based on her reactions, it was clear that Sara had not entirely figured out what her father was up to. But to him, the motivations of Sven Amsel were as clear as his vision. He continued to help Sara shuffle up the staircase and down the hallway towards her room, kept tucked away in the back corner of the manor. She broke away from him stubbornly, glaring, and sat on the edge of the mattress independently. Edward stepped back to look at her, folding his arms under his chest.

"You were stupid to tell him you wanted to come with me," Edward sighed. His brain was running on hyper speed, he could not think his words fast enough, though. His mouth just did not catch up to his mind. "You were stupid to hint that you wanted to leave at all. Do you know why he let you stay here?"

Saraphine knew that she did not think very far into things she had no interest in, and currently she had no interest in her father. "What are you talking about?" she rasped.

"How did your mother die?" he asked suddenly, stepping closer to her curiously.

Her expression was quite easy to read, she did not know that he knew anything about her. "Acute radiation syndrome," she answered, hissing through her words. Sara was matching his snarky attitude. "Just like I am going to. Why? What does it matter?"

"Did you tell Sven this in the letter you wrote to him before arriving in Germany?"

Sara's thoughts trailed back to the beginning of the summer, the time when she had requested to live with her biological father. She remembered the feeling of desperation to leave France, and now the only thing she wanted to do was return. Germany, aside from the Elric brothers and Kerstin, had not been worth it at all. It was not worth skipping her mother's funeral. "Yes," she confirmed. "What are you getting at, Edward?"

He sensed her swelling chagrin with him, especially in her angry eyes. "One last question," he promised. "Before you arrived in Munich, did your father know of your studies and your research thesis when you were experimenting at the University of Paris?"

"I believe that he did, yes," said Sara, nodding. She was beginning to catch on to what he was telling her. Sven was planning to use her for information just like Edward had. She deduced quickly that her father wanted the research for his own chemistry experiments. The gleam in golden irises told her that he was looking for an explanation to her answer. "My mother, since he was sending her money for me, sent him letters to update him on the major events in my life. Surely my studies at the university would have made it his way."

"Sven only wanted your research," Edward spit fiercely through his teeth. "That is why he let you move in with your sister! That is why you are in Germany at all! He wanted to use your knowledge for himself, and most likely the Nazis as well."

Sara was deft to backfire at him. "Just like you did?" she roared, losing control of her tone.

"I was not working for the Nazis!" he reviled, raising his voice. "That is the only reason that he would want to know about your discovery, he wants to help them and the Thule Society open the Gate again!" Edward was pacing now, stomping his feet dramatically. "They invaded my home several years ago, there is nothing stopping them from doing it again."

"Why…why would they attempt that again?" she gulped. She was asking for the sake of hearing the answer, not because she did not know already.

He froze. "There is talk of another World War. Germany needs weapons," Edward replied coldly.

"I just wanted to explore," Sara muttered, overwhelmed with guilt. "I just wanted to research my passion, but the Thule Society was on my tail from the moment after I opened the Gate. I never thought it would happen."

"I believe you," he assured, "but it did more damage than you could have imagined. Surely Sven is going to tell his colleagues about your whereabouts and they will begin searching for you once again."

"_He does seem to know a lot about what they plan to do,_" Sara thought suspiciously. She dismissed it that he was simply acumen, good at reading personalities and other's thoughts. "Fine," she sighed aloud. "In that case, what do you propose we do? The only thing that comes to my mind is to leave the country."

Edward nodded in agreement, his golden bangs falling over his eyes. "I don't see why not. I will tell Alphonse and we can leave by sunrise tomorrow morning."

"Do we have enough time?" Sara questioned, fearing the worst.

"Are you saying we should pick up and leave sooner?" Edward demanded. He had no idea how he could manage that with her radiation sickness slowly them down. She nodded. "As soon as possible?"

She nodded again.

He sighed, contemplating several scenarios. The risks appeared to be at a minimum the sooner they left the manor, especially if it was just going to be the two of them. He could not leave Alphonse if he was fleeing the country, but that was not going to slow him from getting out of the house. "Then we can leave right now."

She did not even think to ask to bring Kerstin with them; Sara had not grown that attached to her sister over the month that she had been in Germany. She was content with packing her things and making it as far as she could with her condition.

"Great," Sara acceded.

* * *

><p>"What is going on?" Kerstin exclaimed, dashing from the porch down the hallway. She darted around sharp corners and slid across the newly polished floors until she reached the parlor, only to find her father standing in its doorway. The brightness of a child's eyes on Christmas morning filled her eyes, a smile tugged at her lips. "Dad!"<p>

Despite her excitement, she nearly snapped her mouth shut at the sheer shock of the immaturity of her voice.

Sven, even though he should have been happy to see his daughter again, did not flinch. The hardened look in his eyes did not fade away, even as Kerstin grabbed his shoulders in attempt to bring his attention to her face. It was the emptiness that brought back memories of how he looked after her mother left. Her father was just as good as hollow. The blithe within her flooded away; Kerstin was beginning to panic when Sven did not blink.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice merely more than a whisper.

Her father took his time mustering up a calm tone to speak with her. "Your sister has been kidnapped," he announced. "Edward was working against Saraphine the entire time. He plans to turn her in as soon as morning." His blue eyes remained deadened.

Kerstin gasped, mostly for show. She was having an obvious trouble processing and believing the story, both she and her sister had come to trust Edward and Alphonse. She bit her lip, studying her father's eyes discretely. It was said the eyes were windows to the soul, or at least the inner being, and Kerstin could almost see the devious excuses and plans forming in her father's mind. "No!" she breathed, unsure of what to believe.

"I want you to get out of this manor," he instructed, eyes focusing abruptly on her worried face. Sven honestly considered her expression to be in a real state of panic. "I am going to the police in Munich in the morning. You will be coming with me and staying in your dorms until we can find you another safe, uninfected house for you to stay in."

The young blonde nodded, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. She closed her eyes and began mouthing words towards the ceiling. "_Please, whatever is really going on_," she prayed, "_just let Saraphine be safe. That is more than enough._" Kerstin thought her pleading was not unreasonable, she was not asking for her sister to miraculously saved from radiation poisoning and she was not asking for her knowledge to disappear. She just wanted Sara to live a little longer, just until they could figure something out.

"Darling, will you please go to the safe in the basement?" he asked, placing his rough hands protectively on her shoulder. She nodded and dashed off to follow her father's orders.

In the hallway, Kerstin passed Alphonse. He wore a worried look on his face. She had almost forgotten that he was still sitting on the porch. He began asking where his brother was, and she could not fight the swelling sorrow inside of her. Kerstin burst into tears as she ran away from him, hoping that he did not hear her sobs. Alphonse had much better perception skills than his brother, he knew there was trouble. He silently slipped through the hallways and up the staircase, looking for where he was sure he had heard Sara and his brother escape to.

It was a surprise to the younger Elric when he did not hear the bickering between the two echoing down the wooden hallways when he approached the bedroom. Alphonse stood in the doorway, gaping at the scene laid out before him. The comforter on the bed had been ruffled, the drawers had been rummaged through, and the old cases of painkillers that were kept on the dresser had been taken. The window beyond the bed was left wide open. Placed on the nightstand was a small slip of paper, addressed to him.

_Alphonse,_

_Venez nous rencontrer à la cathédrale de Strasbourg dans deux jours à midi._

_Saraphine_

"_Alphonse_," he read aloud, lifting the note from the nightstand. Al had to hold the slip of paper a mere inch from his face before he could read in the dim lighting. "_Meet us at the cathedral of Strasbourg in two days at noon._"

The writing was clearly better than his brother's, more legible by far, and if the French was not a dead giveaway, Alphonse knew Sara wrote it. It was a very good choice, if the language would not confuse Sven or whoever else might have found it before he had, there is also a Strasbourg in Germany. However, there is no cathedral. He bit his lip nervously, wondering how in the world he could make it across the border in two days.

* * *

><p>Sven had taken advantage of the moments in which he found himself alone. He stow away into his office, a room that had thankfully remained untouched since his daughters had shared the house alone. He was still able to search through his desk and his bookshelves for the list of important contacts – comprised mostly Nazi officials and close colleagues from the university – without finding anything disturbed. Sven scowled, thinking how lucky it was that the brown-noser Elric did not go on an escapade through the office to look for anything that could occupy his time. He plopped heavily down into the chair behind his desk, taking a moment to sigh and collect his thoughts.<p>

When his mind had been cleared and calmed, Sven threw open the top drawer to his right, scooped up the scraps of paper he kept tucked inside, and slid them out on the desktop like a deck of cards. His fingers danced across the slim pile, searching for the correct business card. Finally, the name Karl Haushofer stood out in bold lettering at the top of one of the cards. He reached for the phone on the wall behind him, gripping the business card in his palm. Sven dialed the number with a quivering hand. He had to get the information out before anyone made any moves. Once again, they found themselves running out of time.

After nearly going insane from listening to the monotonous busy signal, static ran through the phone lines and into Sven's ear. "Hello?" Haushofer sounded like he had just been pulled out of bed; his voice was groggy and slurred in an almost-drunk sort of way.

"Haushofer," Sven sniffed, masking his desperation to send the words across. "It is Amsel. I have news regarding the girl."

"Yes…?"

"She was here, but she was kidnapped before I had the chance to talk to her. We are looking for a man named Edward Elric and his younger brother; they claimed to have been caring for her after she came down with acute radiation syndrome. Whether they kill her or the disease does, we need to hurry before she is out of the picture forever."

"What do you propose that we do, Amsel?" The man on the end of the line had tensed when the name Elric had been spoken. "_I guess we have not seen the last of the boy from Shamballa after all_," he thought, sneering.

"Send a troop of your finest men to my manor; I am sure they will need to get a little bit of prompting before anyone heads out looking for her."

"Right away." His voice was almost a salute.

Sven hung the telephone back up on its hook, returning to sit in his chair. He wore an overconfident smirk on his face like he had tied up all of the loose knots he could for the time being. He was planning to do whatever he possibly could to track Saraphine down. The Gate was going to be opened again, and this time, they had their payment for it.

* * *

><p><strong>SEVERUS SNAPE! That is who Sven so kindly quoted. Unfortunately, I don't own Snape either, so don't go thinking that I do. (Aiame, your answer does not count considering I told you the answer before you posted your review.) A little Harry Potter slid into the fanfiction for you :D<strong>

**Also, I had a ton of fun writing this chapter. I think I tied up more loose ends than I originally planned too. Sven may be a sleazy bastard that is only going to make brief appearances as an antagonist, but he is fun as hell to write about. And now, the real story gets a kick start!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

**Where they find their temporary safe haven.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

As if it had not been enough trouble trying to slip Sara onto a train when she could hardly walk, Edward had no idea what the process was to cross borders. He was hoping it was something simple, especially since their train was heading straight to France. If there were any steps that had been overlooked, they would most likely be finding themselves in a mess of trouble once they arrived in the country. Passports and the sort had never been of much concern to him before.

The stations had very limited travel, especially with the state of Germany's economy. Sara insisted that they had nothing to fret over, that she could handle it if he was not so protective for two minutes. Edward let her slip away, amazed at how she could move so quickly through the crowds of people after being an invalid for so long. He watched from a distant bench as Sara spoke to the woman selling tickets, trying to convince her that they were leaving for France to check on his mother in the hospital. Reasoning did not go over smoothly, but she eventually was able to convince the woman to give her tickets onto the already full train.

"_The Germans have grown suspicious of everything_," thought Edward as he rose to his feet, waiting for Sara to make it back so they could board the train. "_I suppose it _is _best we get away from that_."

The two hurried onto the train with not even a moment to spare; the whistle declaring departure was shrieking as they climbed onto the back platform. Edward tried to find a compartment for them, hoping that if he kept her isolated, she would not pose a threat to anyone else's heath, but it was easier said than done. Even at midnight, most of the small rooms were full with sleeping families or overworked crowds of businessmen. Finally, they did find a compartment with only one occupied bench. A dark-haired mother with two sleeping children curled up on her lap kindly allowed them to sit across from her.

"You seem rather on-edge," the woman noted, addressing Edward. Sara was gazing out the window. "Would it be too rude of me to ask why?"

Edward shrugged, having no desire to make small talk with strangers at the moment.

Sara grinned, bringing her attention away from the endless night beyond the glass. "It is two days away from our wedding," she answered with a mischievous flare in her voice. "I think anyone in his situation has the right to be run-down and wary of things. It was a lot of planning to get here."

He glared at her, golden eyes flashing. Saraphine had a twisted sense of humor. Edward felt she was merely trying to lighten her own mood, thinking of happy things like marriage must take away from the fact they were being chased by insane Nazis.

"How lovely," the woman exclaimed quietly. "Congratulations to you both."

Sara looked up at Edward, batting her eyelashes with a sly smirk playing on her lips. She could see the irritation quickly smoothing over in his golden eyes. It was too much fun to change up their cover stories every now and again, she could not help it.

"Where will you be married?"

"On the steps of the Strasbourg Cathedral," she smiled. Sara was amazed that even though they changed their stories several times, the key details continued to play a part in each one; two days from now at the cathedral.

Sara and the woman continued on with their conversation. Edward merely listened as she continued to elaborate on every detail. She seemed so enthused to be facing the rest of her life, considering she knew she did not have that much left of it to look forward to. Maybe it was best if he just allowed her to keep daydreaming for a bit. When their conversation began to fade away, Edward was thankful for the quiet, even if Sara had taken to leaning on him as she fell asleep.

Edward felt uncomfortable under the woman's gaze upon him, mainly after Sara dozed off with her head resting on his shoulder. It was not the first time he had dealt with the girl using him for a pillow of sorts, but the woman was probably getting the wrong idea from it. He shifted towards the window, careful not to nudge Sara much.

"You're lucky," said the woman groggily. "It sounds like your lives cannot get any better at the moment. You are fortunate."

"Thank you," he dismissed politely. Edward was waiting for the silence to settle in the compartment, and hopefully the woman would understand his message. He had to bite back a groan when she continued to make another comment.

"With the talk in Germany right now, I doubt our lives are ever going to be relatively normal again," she sighed. This, for whatever reason, spiked his curiosity.

Edward raised his eyebrows. "Why?" he asked.

"Can't you tell?" asked the woman. "I'm Jewish. Apparently, that makes everything my fault to the bastards running the country."

Edward nodded, understanding. He, in truth, had not noticed anything that would set her apart from other German citizens. Why how you looked and what your religion was did not matter to Edward at all, he saw no reason for discrimination. But he supposed the matter had something to do with the politics he had no interest in learning about and allowed the topic to slip from his mind. It was eerie to him, though, that they were treating the Jews in this world the same way Ishvalans were treated in Amestris.

"_Maybe there were more ties than Alphonse and I originally thought_," Edward decided.

By the time the morning sun rose over the horizon, the train had pulled into the station at Strasbourg, the railings squealing as the brakes skidded over them. Edward had not been paying much attention to the city itself when they were passing through, so he would be surprised when he stepped outside. He gently tapped Sara's shoulder to wake her, and watching her fill with life again after hours of sleep was almost amazing. In seconds, her eyes had turned from a dreary color that resembled storm clouds to the blue that shown in the daylight sky. She was quick to rise, not wanting to waste any more time on the train than they already had.

Once they had escaped from the bustling crowds on the station's boarding platforms, Sara was taken back a step by the beauty of the city. She had been in Strasbourg once with her mother when she was young and clearly did not remember the elegance of the rivers and streams that flowed through or the old European style buildings that made her think of cottages in the woods. She looked to Edward; it was obvious he did not have an interest in artistic things like architecture. He could have cared less.

"Where exactly do you suggest that we stay?" he asked in a monotonous tone. "Because you can't exactly stay anywhere with other people, you are still infected."

"Tell me something I don't know," Sara grumbled. She was sick and tired of hearing him tell her that she was still suffering. She knew that, she felt it and lived it every day. But he somehow felt the need to remind her when he thought she had forgotten. "I suppose there is _somewhere _we can stay that isn't just a hotel room. A fluffy bed and breakfast is obviously not what you are looking for."

They wandered around the city for what seemed like hours, following the sidewalks towards the heart of the city and to the outskirts. As the sun rose high into the sky, rays of heat beating down onto Sara's face and shoulders, they had stuck to meandering along the outer city streets. Edward came upon a small cottage that sat at the banks of a wide, shallow river. It had not been the first they had seen, but after learning it was abandoned, he welcomed them to make themselves at home.

Sara crept through the doorway, scrunching her nose up. Edward tore the weak plywood boards away from the windows, sending the dust that had collected upon the surfaces swirling in the air. She watched the particles swim in the light pouring in through the windows, which was revealing the covered furniture and dingy walls.

"That was just a lovely story you told the woman on the train," remarked Edward, tossing their shared suitcase that had been thrown together at the last minute onto an armchair, sending more dust into the air. "It must have been your fever talking, because that idea was beyond insane."

"Thank you!" Sara exclaimed, bowing dramatically. When she stood upright again, her vision was cloudy and her head was reeling. It took a moment before her mind had stopped spinning. "I would not want to marry you, anyways, so I don't know what you are losing your cool over."

She sniffed, advancing further into the house. Floorboards creaked under her feet, more so than they did in the manor in Germany. Her mind, for whatever reason, trailed back to Kerstin. The blonde was probably sitting at home, watching Sven make phone calls to dozens of people to search for Sara. She groaned, struck with guilt.

"We have time to kill before Alphonse will be arriving at the cathedral," she mused absently, trying to bring the subject away from Edward's frustration with her. "What do you suppose we do?"

"You are going to rest," Edward insisted. "Lay down or something, I will unpack the painkillers for you."

Sara made a face at her options of places to rest. Of the shabby armchairs and dilapidated sofas, nothing particularly caught her interest. She leaned against a wall, taking the moment to close her eyes. She knew that she was being difficult for him, but she thought standing was a better option than on a disgusting, broken down piece of furniture.

"I don't want to," she protested quietly, her voice hissing up her throat. Edward shot a sharp glare at her. Sara returned the dirty look with ease.

"I didn't ask what you wanted," he reminded crisply. "It is what you need if you plan to stay alive long enough to open the Gate, let alone cross through it."

"That's all you care about, isn't it?" Sara snapped at him, her beryl eyes flashing.

He raised his eyebrows curiously. "What do you have that is better to worry about?" Edward returned.

Sara bit down on her lip. Of course, there were the Nazis and the Thule Society that planned to invade his world with her knowledge, and she assumed she would be safe from them for a few years at least if she was living on the other side of the Gate. She supposed he was right, they were better off if they focused on that as their main priority. Sara grumbled something in audible.

"Exactly," he said, unlatching the clasps on the suitcase. Throwing the lid back, Edward reached in, rummaging through the clothes and medicine cases until he found what he was looking for.

Sara turned, pressed her back against the wall, and sank to sit on the floor. She realized now how empty she felt, how there had to be something absent inside of her. "_It's because I will be gone before I can help him_," Sara thought, assuring herself, "_that's why I am so miserable_." Death itself was not scaring her as much as the thought of leaving everyone she knew behind her. She wondered how the other scientists experimenting at the university with her could have faced the sad truth with such straight faces – her mother included.

Six months ago, winter had swallowed France whole, making it difficult for Sara to conduct her research properly. The lab she and her mother had been experimenting in was run-down and filled with about twenty others trying to discover the same thing. She only meant to recreate the work of Marie Curie; she was writing her freshman thesis paper on the genius's discoveries. Sara found that, for the most part, things were turning out well. She was successfully observing identical results; the natural ore, pitchblende, did emit a radioactive substance one-hundred fold times more dangerous than uranium and thorium and that same element could be used to create energy seemingly from nothing. However, there were more factors Sara had left the same that should have been adjusted to the conditions in which she had been experimenting. The cold was one of them.

Weak window panes and thin walls of the old laboratory allowed crisp winter winds to slip into the building, affecting more than just the scientists' body temperatures. The first one of them to notice anything changing in his research was a man named Isaac, who watched the finished project of his research nearly freeze over. He could not continue to work with the elements anymore. Isaac was also the first to see the burns appearing on his skin from long-term radiation exposure. One by one, those researching in the building began noticing the same burns and the same failure in their experiments. Sara thought her work was too precious and made a conscious effort to save it before the chill seeped through it, ruining it forever. She had been in such a rush that night to finish, she barely remembered what she changed. Whatever she had done, though, it changed several of the elements completely. After repeating the process several times, Sara had successfully opened the Gate.

Not long afterwards, the laboratory had been transformed into a hospital wing for the infected scientists. They quarantined themselves in the contaminated building, unable to face families and loved ones. Sara was amazed that she had not contacted the burns and blisters yet, but thought it would be best if she avoided anything that would speed up her death. Her mother was one of the last ones to die, and after that she could not bear to stick around and watch the few remaining pass away as well. She had all of the formulas she needed to recreate her research if necessary; she was desperate to leave the country with them.

Word had spread quickly about the research and experiments happening in the small lab on the university campus. There were articles in newspapers all across Europe that talked about it, especially after the mass death of the minds behind it. On the day of her mother's funeral, Sara was visited by a German man at her mother's home. He claimed to be a scientist interested in her work, asking if he could have enough starting information to recreate her experiment in his home country. She found him horribly suspicious and did not tell him a word. In fact, she had been quite rude and slammed the door in his face. It was only later that she realized he was from the Thule Society.

In desperation, Sara decided to go into hiding. She thought it clever to travel to the one place the Thule Society would never expect her to go, to Germany. She searched through her mother's things, packed a suitcase, and found her father's address in Munich. Sara wrote to him, saying she could not stand to live in the same house where her mother had been and that she would like to attend classes at Munich University when the next semester rolled around. The week leading up to the reply letter from Sven was a nerve-wrecking one, but Sara suffered through. Then, the day before she left, she burned all research journals that remained in the old lab. All was well in Germany, too, until the radiation burns flared up on her skin.

"Saraphine," Edward snapped. His flesh hand was extended towards her face, two small pills cradled in his palm.

She had half of a mind to smack his hand away from her face; she was too deep in thought to care much about taking medicine. Instead, Sara took the pills and dropped them to the back of her mouth, gulping them down quickly. She felt a large lump swelling in her throat, a result of taking the pills without any water.

"Why do you want to go to the other side?" he asked, striking up a conversation.

"I will save you the dramatics of simply saying I would like to see it after all of my research, I did not know what the hell I was doing to arrive at that result," Sara announced throatily. "I think, if I make it there, the knowledge of my research will be safe from the Thule Society. It will take them years to gather the tools and research to open the Gate themselves, if they choose to at all."

"You are doing this to be noble," Edward observed, speaking rather judgmentally.

Sara protested, "I suppose. But I don't mean to."

Despite the heat of the French summer, the night that slowly crept over the cottage was cold and windy. Sara swallowed her pride and curled up on the sofa, using the cover that kept the dust from soiling it as a blanket. Edward remained awake for a good portion of the night, and even when he did sleep, it did not last very long. He was too preoccupied by the thought of Alphonse not making it to the cathedral tomorrow.

In the morning, they woke to empty stomachs and no food to fill them. Edward wandered aimlessly through the cottage, grumbling to himself about how hungry he was and how if the German currency would not do a thing for them in Germany, it certainly would be worth anything in France.

"Will you stop complaining, Edward?" demanded Sara. "We do have means of buying food, need I remind you."

His head shot up to look at her. "What are you talking about?" asked Edward.

"It isn't like my mother and I were broke after our experiments," she remarked, giving him an all-knowing look. "I am sure there has to be some money remaining in our bank account."

"Good, that way we have something to do before we meet up with Alphonse," he said, looking more enthusiastic than Sara had seen him in days. His brother meant very much to him, she knew that. Somewhere inside of her, she wished she had a sibling growing up, she always had. But Sara had taken advantage of the time she had with Kerstin, when she had obtained what she had wanted.

Sara grinned. "I got to return home and you are treating me to brunch? Oh, Edward, you are too kind."

"You have a horrid sense of humor," Edward told her sternly. Now that Sara was feeling slightly better with the passing days, her true colors were shining through. She may still be as stubborn as ever when it came down to it, but she tried to lighten the mood otherwise. "Or is it simply a French trait of yours?"

"Racist," she muttered sourly, lowering her head. "My sense of humor has nothing to do with being French." Sara ducked out of the room towards one of the unused bathrooms tucked away in the back of the house, bringing a change of clothes with her. After locking herself in the small room, she swapped out of the nightgown she had been traveling in and changed into a heavy pair of slacks with a long-sleeve blouse. Having forgotten a comb back at the manor, Sara could only run her slim fingers through her knotted brunette hair. She fluffed the bangs over her face as best she could before tying her should-length locks into a bun at the top of her head. She emerged appearing clean, but without running water it was difficult to pull off otherwise.

Edward had to do a double take, not realizing it was Sara the first time he stole a glance at her. It had taken him all of a minute to throw on a clean pair of pants and matching dress shirt, so he had been waiting for several minutes for her. He believed that it was the first time he had seen her dressed in everyday attire. "Feminine," approved Edward.

Sara sniffed. "Thank you," she returned, simply for the sake of being polite.

Not that Edward normally noticed clothing – especially on women – but he did observe that the neutral color she was dressed made her blue eyes flare. Tones of ice and sky swirled together in her irises, bringing more emphasis to her wide eyes. Her beryl eyes were flashing as she looked at him.

She waited, standing in the awkward silence, with frown tugging at her lips. In truth, Edward made her fairly uneasy. Sara tapped her foot impatiently, looking towards the door every now and again in hope that he would indicate their departure soon. She did not think she could take him seriously if their stare-down continued any longer.

"Alphonse will be worried if you wait any longer," she huffed. Sara had talked to the younger Elric brother all of twice, and she hoped she had made a decent assumption about his personality.

"I might die of starvation if we wait any longer," retorted Edward. He shuffled across the dusty floor with a sigh, before stepping out into the warm sunlight of the late morning. Sara followed him, watching as his heels kicked up tiny puffs of sand as he walked along the dirt path. She learned that he was able to hide the limp he was walking with well, since she had never noticed it before. His left foot quivered each time he pressed it against the ground, nearly giving out with each stride.

"What is wrong with your leg?" asked Sara curiously.

He grunted, "My automail is breaking down. I need to go in for maintenance." Edward glanced over his broad shoulder at her, his golden eyes bright. "Only one more reason to open the Gate sooner."

"I already agreed to help you," she reminded him, "so you don't have to keep throwing reasons in my face to speed up the process."

"Maybe I should just leave you on this side," considered Edward aloud. "It would mean a lot less trouble for the both of us. Besides, I don't need one more female in my life nagging at me all of the time.

Sara pressed a scarred hand over her mouth, muffling the chuckle that slipped through her lips. "You are quite the ladies' man, aren't you, Edward?"

"You have not met the women I have had to deal with," he remarked vehemently. Edward thought of Teacher, Hawkeye, and Winry, all of who could easily kick his ass. There were, of course, the ones who were not as strong, like Noa and Rose, but equally as much trouble. On top of it all, he had not inherited his father's talent with women so he had no hope for him at all. But what did he care? He was a traveler, never planning to settle down and entirely alchemy driven, he was better off that way.

"You're right, I haven't," she agreed.

He uttered some sound of acknowledgement, but did not make any further comment. Edward just continued walking until they reached the city, his excitement growing when he saw the top of the cathedral peaking over the other buildings and houses. He was not hungry anymore when he thought of reuniting with Alphonse, even if he was nearly an adult now, Edward still worried about Al like he was a little kid. A clock was nailed to a post sitting on one of the street corners; it was only ten o'clock. Edward groaned, but was soon reminded of the growls emitting from his stomach.

Just as Edward was about to walk into one of the small cafés lining the main street, Sara pulled him aside, reminding him he had no money to spend on food. She did not particularly like having to scold him and read him the rights, especially since she barely knew him. Either way, whatever she told him convinced him to wait off and follow her to the bank.

Having visited the city only once, Sara lost her way along the narrow streets searching for the bank. Most banks in France were not connected by a group or company yet, so she was lucky to find one that did and also held her mother's account. She and Edward were waiting in a line for over a half-hour before they stepped up to the teller's counter.

Edward merely stood to the side and listened as Sara recited account numbers to the man behind the counter, making confused faces each time she stumbled across a number she was unsure of. Her insecurity of the matter made him worry that she would not be able to withdraw any money at all, then the three of them would not be able to eat, let alone continue traveling away from Germany. Finally, the teller approved the account number and allowed Sara to take the entire amount of money that had been kept in the account. In total, the trip to the bank chewed up more than an hour of their time.

They returned quietly to the café in which Edward had first seen this morning, a small shop with only a counter to sit at and eat. It was relatively empty when they sat down, but people soon began arriving for lunch as the top of the hour neared closer. Even as he was scarfing down food, Edward feared that they would be making Alphonse wait.

"It helps if you chew your food before you swallow," chastised Sara, as she made a face of disgust from watching Edward eat. French food was not exactly healthy, and eating as much of it as he was, she knew that Edward would be paying for it with stomach aches later.

Gulping down a bite of…whatever had been shoved inside of his mouth, Edward said, "What? Are you worried about me choking?"

"_He sure is moody today_," Sara observed, _"probably because he is separated from his brother_." She rested her chin in her palm, looking at him. "Why yes, Edward, I am," she said. "I think it is my turn to start worrying about you for once, instead of the other way around."

"You are not entirely healed of anything," he pointed out, setting his fork on the rim of his plate. He slid the plate towards the center of the counter, signaling that he was finished. "You don't have the right to worry about anyone but yourself. While we are here, we should buy you bandages to cover your burns."

"I know," she sighed. "But that can wait until after we meet up with Alphonse again."

"Agreed," said Edward. He pushed back on the counter stool and rose to his feet, turning away from the counter. Just as he cut through the line to the door, bells in the cathedral echoed through the town, announcing high noon. Sara glanced at one of the waitresses behind the counter; she was speaking with another customer. If she waited, she would lose Edward. Sara tossed several bills to the center of the counter, an amount plenty more than what the bill probably was.

Sara dashed out of the café, her own stomach still grumbling with hunger, and raced after Edward. For a man limping down the street, he had already made it two blocks by simply walking. Edward's impulsiveness was almost as bad as his temper.

The gothic style church towered over them, blocking the sun from pouring down on the pathway leading to its front steps. Edward was already talking with his younger brother on the steps of the cathedral when Sara met up with them. The two brothers were receiving dirty looks from passerby on the street when they heard them speaking German.

"How are we going to pull off something this big, Brother?" asked Alphonse desperately. "It was hard enough to get out of the country yesterday and by now the Nazis are in every train station."

"There is no way that they are all looking for us!" exclaimed Sara.

"Don't flatter yourself," Edward muttered. "Not all of them are looking for you, Saraphine. It was only a matter of time before the Nazis gained control of the whole country."

Alphonse shot his brother an unreadable look. "True, of course. But Sven, I heard him on the phone; he is sending troops across the border of all bordering countries – Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, and France. There were no trains leaving to the other countries. Their orders are to search for the three of us."

Sara glared at Edward, unsure of what else she could do. "What do you suppose we do now?"

"What do you need to open the Gate?" asked Edward.

She thought back to her experiments, making a mental list of the ingredients she had been using. "Radium, polonium, thorium, uranium," she listed. "But I have no idea what I did with them in the end." Edward nodded, soaking in the rest of the excuse she was giving him.

"Why don't you transmute something yourself, Brother?" asked Alphonse curiously, cocking his head to the side. Sara listened intently, knowing the term from a briefing on the ancient science of alchemy.

"There is a lack in this world," answered the older, golden haired brother. "The transmutation would not be complete without something holding it together. Envy held the transmutation together the last time the Gate was opened in this world. We need the chemicals and the amounts of them that Sara used when she opened the Gate."

"Then we have to go back to Paris," announced Sara. "Any research that has not been burned still sits in the lab."

**WOW! Over 5000 words and 13 pages; I think that is a record for me! I have wanted to make my chapters longer on an average, but was not expecting this. I just wanted them to meet up with Alphonse. Please review, I don't want to feel like I wrote all of this or nothing.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

**Where they run over a speed bump in the tracks.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

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><p>Several days after their arrival in Strasbourg, German newspapers began appearing in the corner grocery stores and newsstands across the city. The first of the threesome to discover the paper was Edward, on one of his daily trips to the grocery to buy new bandages for Sara. At first, he did not think much of it. But when he took the time to pick up the paper, a missing person article offering a reward for anyone with information on Sara's whereabouts caught his eye.<p>

"God damnit!" hissed Edward under his breath, yanking the paper angrily from the miniature newsstand on the store counter. He held the paper up to his face, rereading through the article several times before marching over to the cashier. He waited impatiently as the young clerk charged him for his purchase and placed the items in the grocery bag. When she finished, Edward stormed out of the store and the entire way back to the cottage at the edge of town. Slamming the door behind him, he tossed the newspaper to Alphonse who sat on the dingy couch.

"What is this?" asked the younger Elric brother, gazing down at the paper in his hands suspiciously. In bold, the headline read: Golden Athlete Admits to Fraud at 1924 Olympics. "Brother, I thought you hated the Olympics. You made such a big deal about how ridiculous they were when everyone was hyped for them last summer…"

"Not that, Alphonse!" exclaimed Edward, throwing his hands into the air dramatically. He grits his teeth, pointing to the article about Sara in the bottom corner. "_That_," he specified.

After scanning through the paragraph-long article, Alphonse's eyes widened in shock. He appeared as though his dark golden irises were going to pop out of his head. "It has been a week!" he spat in awe. "How has this already made it to France?"

"Sven is a desperate, heart-broken father," piped in Sara, emerging from the back hallway that led to her bedroom. She rolled her icy blue eyes to emphasize her sarcasm. Blisters and burns on her neck, arms, and leg had been wrapped in long strips of bandages to keep from further infection.

"I'm sure he is," snorted Edward, folding his arms over his chest. He shook his head, thinking how hopeless this world was when it came to wanting more power. "Your entire world is selfish." Sara shot him a nasty glare. "No," he corrected himself. "The world is beyond selfish, it is greedy."

"Greed lives in everyone," informed the brunette young woman, her eyes sharpening. She sank into the sofa cushions beside Alphonse. "No matter what world you live in, you will always have to deal with sin. Even you, Edward, your drive to return to your world is a very deep-set greed within yourself."

"You have chosen science, Saraphine," he reminded her, a crisp cruelty edging his words. "That gives you no right to lecture me about sin. Your own lifestyle was driven by the need for answers."

Sara had no argument; she pressed her lips firmly into a line and turned to look over Alphonse's shoulder at the newspaper in his hands. She tried her luck at translating the passage herself, but the words swam around her brain too quickly as she read and reread to make any sense of it. "What exactly does it say?" she asked, no longer willing to put up with the confusion. Both brothers gave her suspicious glances. "Just because I speak German does not mean I read it very well!"

Edward's judgmental glare did not fade away after learning her explanation; he instead sat in the armchair across from the sofa and watched as Alphonse read her the paragraph.

"_Saraphine Amsel, age eighteen, was taken from her family's manor outside of Munich seven days ago on the night of the twenty-first. The last person to have seen the girl was her sister, who claims that she was with a pair of brothers – Edward and Alphonse Elric. Saraphine's father, Sven, is a successful professor lecturing at Munich University and is willing to give anyone with information on either the whereabouts of his daughter or the Elric brothers a fair amount of gold in return_." Alphonse's eyes grew dismal. "This is being blown out of proportion," he murmured.

"These people are desperate to win a war, Al," scoffed Edward, resting his head against the back of the chair. "They want our weapons, they want our alchemy, and they want our military tactics and skill. If they find Sara, she can give them what they want."

Alphonse looked skeptical. "I distinctly remember you saying that the military had no skill. 'Nobody with concerns for military performance, skill, or tact would ever invite the pompous bastard Roy Mustang into its ranks'."

Sara stifled her laughter and ignored Al's comment. "You make it sound like all the Germans want is a war to take their frustration out on, Edward," she said, "and that is not necessarily true. They want to take their frustration out on those they believed caused their loss for the last Great War, the communists and the Jews."

"Bastards," muttered Edward. He thought if killing mass numbers of people – entire races, in some cases – is their goal, that they already had the tools and technology to get away with it. In fact, he knew it for certain.

"Indeed," agreed Sara, blue eyes flashing. "But what does this mean for us? If Sven is serious about finding us, then he will certainly send someone to the University of Paris looking for me, thinking that I returned for my research."

"That is too predictable," Alphonse deduced, placing the newspaper on the coffee table between them. "I would assume you would do the same thing."

Edward smirked, as if he had just stumbled upon realization. "In which case, I would not waste sending any of my men there because it is far too easy to be anticipated," he said. "That is most likely what Sven is thinking. This certainly plays in our favor, especially since that is where we need to go."

"You seem to know quite a fair amount about how others think, Edward," observed Sara, a suspicious gleam lighting up in her eyes. She did not mean to be offensive, but it was clear that he had taken it in a different way than she had intended it. His golden eyes her stern and his shoulders tensed. "I mean you are very good at reading personalities, you did not have to be so defensive."

"You are going to be trouble, Saraphine Amsel," scolded Edward, his narrow eyes sharpening. Confidence swelled within him as he felt his glare piercing Sara, she was shifting uncomfortably. "Mark my words, trouble – just as you have been from the beginning."

She sniffed, "You were the one who originally wanted to help me, need I remind you. I never asked you for a damn thing." Sara sat stiffly; her nose scrunched like a pig's and turned toward the ceiling.

Alphonse placed a hand on Sara's shoulder cautiously, hoping that she was unlike his brother in one way and would not entirely lose her temper when touched or comforted. "Pay him no mind," he whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear. "Brother is just worn down; give him some time to sleep and a bit more food and he should be able to think with a clear head soon enough." He gave her a meek smile.

"I am thinking with a clear head! A tad extra sleep and more food would be nice, of course, but I am doing just fine as is." Edward finished his glib declaration with a prompt nod of his head, greasy strands of his hair falling over his eyes as he did so. Both Alphonse and Sara made a face at him, only slightly able to hide the disgusted expressions they wanted to wear. How long had it been that Edward had not bothered to bathe? "What are you staring at?"

"Nothing, Brother," said the younger Elric quickly.

Sara took the opportunity to take a snap at her keeper. "Your hair is absolutely revolting," she said with a sneer to her words. "I would assume that it is simply a male tendency to not care about your own personal hygiene, but seeing as Alphonse still has another clean day left for him…" She glanced to Alphonse's dark hair, which was not as clean as she would have liked if she was going to use for an example, but it was in much better shape than his brother's.

"What do you want me to do?" asked Edward, snapping. His question lived in his eyes. "It is kind of difficult to wash my hair in a house with no running water!"

"How do you think we all feel?" huffed Sara, a nasty scowl disguising her features. "You could at least try to manage it, though, you know."

"It will be one more day without a shower until we get to Paris, if I can deal with it than so can you," the older Elric brother scowled. Edward rose from his chair and stormed into the back hallway, the section of the cottage that housed the bedrooms. Alphonse watched his brother storm into the bedroom, glancing apologetically at Sara once he was gone.

Sara raised her dark brows, trying to comprehend what he was looking at her for. "Don't look like that, Alphonse," she told him, shaking her head slightly. "You have nothing to appear so remorseful for. You cannot help your brother's terrible behavior."

Al shrugged his shoulders slightly. His dark golden eyes shown with the knowing gleam of brotherhood – at least that was the way that Sara saw it. "He has been difficult being away from home for so long," he explained. "That is why he is so unhappy, and not to mention tough on you. I am just glad that we will be home soon."

She nodded, stringy strands of brunette hair falling over her face. She pleased that Edward's mind that would be allowed some ease when they return; hopefully he would not be so uptight when they passed though. Sara watched Alphonse rise as well from his seat beside her and pick the grocery bag off of the floor where Edward had dropped it beside the door. If only Edward could be more like his younger brother – she did not dare tell him that, she knew he had probably heard it enough times in his life – she would most likely like him more. She extended her arm, allowing him to unwrap the bandages from her forearms. When the bandages had been changed out, Alphonse invited her to go with him to the train station to buy tickets for Paris.

Glancing back to the hallway where Edward had disappeared, Sara answered, "Of course." She was feeling very caged lately, with the disease and being in hiding especially.

The train ride into Paris was not as entertaining as the journey out of Germany. Sara found herself asleep and dreaming a good portion of the ti

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><p>me, curled up on the compartment bench across from the Elric brothers. Edward was able to tear his mind away from the stress of returning home for a mere second, which was just long enough to worry about Sara's poisoning. He noticed the clean cloth bandages wrapping around her forearms, face, and neck and began wondering where they came from. He glanced to Alphonse beside him, who was beginning to doze off with his forehead pressed against the window, and assumed that he had taken the time to do it himself. Edward felt guilty that he had not done so himself, he was too busy worrying about himself.<p>

About halfway through the three hour train ride, Edward watched as Sara's eyes fluttered open, her dark lashes casting shadows across her face in the dim light of the night compartment. He did not say anything to her; he merely sat back and watched her look at him. Soon, Sara had closed her eyes again and was drifting off to sleep again. Edward rested his head back on the wall and closed his eyes as well, waiting for more time to pass. Falling into a deep slumber was not as easy as his compartment mates made seem. The stomp of storming footsteps outside in the narrow hall played a part in keeping him awake. Edward glanced at the dusty glass window at the top of the compartment door, watching hatted heads bounce outside the door. Just as he had seen on Sven, there were swastika pins gleaming in the dim light as they moved.

Golden eyes sharpened, body tensing protectively. "_Nazis_," he thought, sneering. Edward's instinct was to draw the short curtain over the window, to hide the others. He knew that would only look more suspicious. Instead, Edward assumed that they had never seen Sara in person and that he had time to assure they could not recognize her. He reached across the compartment and hastily ripped the bandages from every inch of visible skin. There was a knock on the door when he shoved the infected wrappings into his scuffed boots.

"What?" he rasped harshly, attempting to sound groggy.

The compartment door slid open with a loud squeak. Three blonde headed men marched into the alcove promptly, giving Edward a clear view of their Nazi badges. The man in the middle held up a document for show, Edward could see that it was some sort of warrant. "We are looking for Saraphine Amsel," said the Nazi gruffly. "Her father reported her kidnapped in Munich, Germany just over a week ago."

A second man asked, "Is that she?" He gestured to Sara.

"No," Edward snapped defensively, receiving several suspicious glares from each of the men. Returning a dirty look to each of the Nazis gave him just enough time to think of a new identity for the sleeping woman across from him. It was clearly a long-shot if he was going by appearance, but it was a safe name. It would be untraceable. "That's my fiancé, Winry Rockbell."

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><p><strong>I sincerely apologize that this chapter was relatively short, but after the last one and my personal schedule, there was no way I could squeeze anything more in. It covered the ground it needed to and that is what I am happy with. Also, a second note, I will not be able to update for at least the next week. I am not apologizing, but that's because I am going on summer vaca!<strong>

**Please review. The more reviews I receiver, the sooner new chapters will come when I return!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

**Where the author fits way too much plot advancement into one chapter just so she can write what she wants the next!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

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><p>"<em>Winry…?<em>" Sara wondered, her eyes still lidded. She kept still, knowing there were still others in the compartment. There was clear suspicion in the men's voices, but Edward was playing the situation flawlessly. "_Winry Rockbell? What the hell kind of name is that?_"

She tossed gently on the bench, fidgeting to shift her legs. With her eyes remaining lidded, she sat upright and stretched her legs out across the floor, wringing tension from her muscles. Sara could feel multiple pairs of eyes on her, even without looking. She blinked, clearing any traces of her sleep from her eyes. The swastika pin shown prominent on each of their uniforms, as she had suspected it to; they had said that they were looking for her after all. Her limbs began tingling with fear as she realized that there was practically no way of getting away free now; there was no way to back up Edward's excuse formally.

"What is going on?" asked Sara, glancing around the compartment with a mask of cluelessness on her face. She caught the gleam in Edward's golden eyes, almost apologetic, and turned quickly to the Nazis. Although she had nothing to say, she opened her mouth as if about to speak.

Luckily, she was cut off by the man closest to her. "Sorry to disturb you, miss, we were simply doing rounds on the train," he explained with a slight bow of his head.

Sara forced herself to look at the Nazi with lightened eyes, as if she understood of him. "Certainly alright," she dismissed, while thinking, "_He is doing a damn good job of playing polite for a Nazi._" In order to avoid further questioning – or in attempt to – she closed her eyes tiredly and rested her head on her shoulder.

"May I inquire as to where you are heading?" he asked, before placing a hand on the doorknob. He was not going to leave until their stories matched up, Sara could tell.

"Paris," she sighed with a thick French accent coating her voice, an accent that was hardly necessary to talk with. "We are being married a week from tomorrow." Beryl eyes flashed as she glanced at Edward, a faux smile crossing her lips.

The Nazi nodded. Something about his light eyes told her that she was getting off easy, with just the bare minimum. The compartment door slid open and the three men stepped out. Their gruff voices could be heard conversing lowly outside in the hallway, no doubt about them.

"We are getting off at the next stop," announced Edward firmly, meeting Sara's asking eyes. He rose to his feet and began taking down the tattered suitcase that had been stored on the shelf above his head. "They are more than suspicious and are going to come back in at any moment."

"Shouldn't it look like we are staying then?" she asked, her eyebrows knit together. "Since I told them we were going to Paris?"

He shrugged his shoulders and spat back at her, "They know who we are; they should think that we would never have told them the truth. If we hop onto a train heading to Paris at the next station without them following, we should be clear for the next few days."

"That's a relief," Sara sighed, suddenly feeling at ease. She hated feeling so wishy-washy all of the time, but whenever Edward told her something, it was hard not to believe him. "Do you think that is going to be enough time to get everything done?"

"It should be," he replied. "Opening the Gate itself is the easy part; it is managing to get past it that is difficult. We cannot afford to have anything taken."

Sara nodded. She saw no signs of worry on his face, but she could not help but question him. She had next to no idea what he was talking about.

They were able to escape the train at the next stop, just as Edward had planned to. The three left everything behind in the old compartment, not bothering to take any of their belongings with them. Sara had not brought anything of value with her, so it did not matter much, but she knew that all Edward and Alphonse had in this world had been packed away in their suitcase. It was a strange concept to grasp that they were so unattached to just everything. With nothing besides the clothes on their backs, they did not ask for a compartment; Edward insisted that it would be suspicious and that there was no need. He, Sara, and Alphonse ended up cramming onto a single bench, across from a man with his face hidden in the pages of a newspaper.

"Brother," whispered Alphonse under his breath, leaning over to see around Sara. The young woman had somehow found herself sitting between the brothers, and with no elbow room. "If we are heading straight into Paris, why will we need several days…?"

He trailed off quietly, keeping eye contact with Edward. Alphonse's dark golden irises flashed, finishing his question wordlessly.

Sara's hand shot up in front of Edward abruptly, just as he had begun to answer. "We don't even know if the old laboratory is still there," she told the younger Elric softly. "It was dangerously infected when I left it, the university may have had it demolished over the summer. In that case, we would have to do some snooping around the chemistry labs across the campus."

The man sitting on the bench across from them flipped several pages of his newspaper, lowering it just enough to peer over at the trio. He caught Sara's wary eye and soon held the paper to hide his face again.

"Snooping around is Brother's expertise," noted Alphonse with a smirk.

Edward tensed on Sara's left side. "Alphonse," he chastised under his breath, sounding more nervous than Sara had ever heard him. He was almost defensive about the topic, but that was not exactly how it could be described. Sara had never seen a person act that way, not around her. "Let's just hope that it won't come down to that."

"Please, Edward," sighed Sara, playing on the fact that he was distressing over something. "Realistically, that is what we are going to have to do anyways. Radioactive substances tend to lose their luster over several weeks, and it has been four months since anyone has been in the labs. I am just glad that you are good at sneaking, so Alphonse says."

"He doesn't know what he is talking about," grumbled Edward.

Sara rested her head on his shoulder playfully, soon finding it uncomfortable after she realized she was leaning on his automail port. "That's too bad," she murmured, "it would be helpful in our situation." Sara grinned up at him.

Edward frowned, obviously disgruntled. He tried to shake her off of him, but instead found her clutching to his prosthetic arm. "Saraphine," he scolded, prying her fingers off of his forearm. "I would appreciate it if you took this seriously instead of tap-dancing on my nerves."

"I am taking this seriously," she spat defensively, lifting her head from his shoulders. Locks of brunette hair still clung to her face, matted down after that short period of time. "But there is clearly a difference in our definitions of serious. I don't need to act like someone just died all the time."

Thin pages of the man's newspaper ruffled again. He folded it and placed it in his lap, revealing his raven hair and oriental onyx eyes. "I believe you have said that to me before, Saraphine Amsel," he said, a smile pulling on his lips.

"Mustang," gasped the Elric brothers in unison.

"Isaac," corrected Sara, her own beryl eyes lighting with excitement.

Isaac had been the first to show signs of radiation poisoning in the lab where Sara had conducted her research. Now, though, his skin hardly showed any traces of the burns and blisters whatsoever. She found herself staring at him in awe. His skin was clear, just as it had been before ever stepping inside the radiation lab. Sara stole a glance at her own hands, whose skin was still wearing the fading red scars of acute radiation poisoning. Isaac was clearly the lucky one.

In Edward's eyes, Isaac was a mirror image of Roy Mustang. He was certain that Alphonse was seeing the same person he was, especially after his reaction. The smile that was gracing Sara's lips was taunting him; he had never seen her smile like that before. He knew that she had not had many reasons to smile after knowing him, but seeing her beam like that at the mere sight of _Roy Mustang_ struck a chord inside of him. It was easy to say that without knowing him, Edward was already developing a hatred of Isaac.

"You were always so stern all of the time," exclaimed Sara, throwing her head back in a laugh.

It was clear that she was friends with the man, and that was what was irking Edward. Saraphine was not as capable as, say, Riza Hawkeye when it came to handling Mustang. He knew that he was judging him by his Amestrian counter-part, but if they were anything alike, Sara was in trouble.

Edward caught Alphonse's eye, and was able to drown out Sara and Isaac's chatter. His younger brother gave him quite a wary look, giving Edward a sense that his brother was feeling the same way about this Isaac character that he did. Edward shook his head.

"What business on earth do you have going back to the laboratory?" asked Isaac curiously, cocking his head to the side.

Sara had no answer, at least not one that she was free to tell him. She could not say she was going to open a portal to cross into a parallel world without expecting to be thrown into an asylum. "Do you know if it is still standing?" she inquired, quickly changing the topic discretely.

"Last I heard," the raven-haired, Mustang lookalike answered. Edward watched disgustedly as the charming smile spread across his lips, the smile he knew was specifically used for womanizing. "Why? The entire place is crumbling into ruins and is going to be cleared out sometime before the beginning of the semester."

Edward was suspicious of the man, and was wondering how he knew so much about the old laboratory if he had not been there. He was playing low at the moment, but he would jump at the chance to expose Isaac the minute his story did not add up. "Sara was actually going to show me around the campus," explained Edward. "I am transferring there as a chemistry major from Munich University."

Isaac chuckled. "Why would you want to study in the old laboratory? The school just spent a great deal of money on a new chemistry lab in another building."

The elder Elric recognized the smirk of the Amestrian general all too well. He scowled, not bothering to hide it.

"Edward has just heard so much about the old lab from me, he was dying to see it," Sara explained with a smile.

"I don't have a class until later this evening, I would be happy to go back with you," announced Isaac happily. Sara appeared to be delighted with the decision; Alphonse had no preference either way, but Edward was seething with rage. Roy Mustang or not, the man was tap dancing on his nerves.

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><p>By the time they had gotten off of the train and found their way from the station to the university campus, the foursome was walking the sidewalks under a dusk sky. Edward was trailing at the back of the group, staying out of sight and out of mind. Alphonse, however, periodically glanced over his shoulder at his brother, as if to reassure himself that he was still there. The much to chipper voices of Sara and Isaac were giving the older Elric a headache, but there was nothing he could do about it if the young woman was only acting so cheery to keep him from asking questions.<p>

The campus itself consisted of towering gothic buildings, some that resembled churches and others like reminded them of the boarding schools that were scattered across northern Europe. All biology and chemistry majors were directed toward the back of the university, which is exactly where they headed first. Sara had pretended that she had forgotten the entire layout of her old school and followed Isaac around like a puppy, sticking closely to his heels. Watching her terrible acting skills, Edward thought he was going to be sick. He soon found that the true nausea did not set in until they found the old laboratory.

A small, one story building tucked away between two larger buildings – the biology labs and newly built chemistry labs. The brick walls were crumbling in on themselves and the glass windows were either shattered or coated with a thick layer of dust, giving Edward a sense of what was to expect once he was inside. Isaac and Sara were already snooping around the entrance of the laboratory, poking their heads in the doorway and peering in through the windows. He had not given it much thought before, but seeing her so eager to step inside of the building again was slightly out of character, and it was worrying him what could happen if she dared to expose herself to more dangerous substances.

Sara casually strode over beside Edward, making sure she was close enough that only he could hear her whisper, "There are still substances in the lab. We could set up tonight if you want to, as soon as we get rid of Isaac for ten minutes. That is about how long it will take, right?"

Edward nodded. "More or less," he confirmed. "And it is not as if I was the one who was shamelessly flirting with the man and have him attach to me."

Blue eyes flashed in the dim twilight, glaring at him. "I can't help it if my memory is not serving me justice."

That was a line that Edward did not buy for a split second. He studied her suspiciously, her glare on him intensifying as he did so.

"Well," announced Isaac, "it's open. You are welcome inside until morning."

"This was too easy," murmured Edward to Sara. "There has to be something else going on here."

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><p><strong>Well…that's that. Isaac isn't just a useless Mustang lookalike, I promise! I also had a comment on the languages used from last chapter, and for those of you who are wondering why Ed and Al don't speak Amestrian with each other, for the sake of the story I am going to say German and Amestrian are deathly similar. (And, since I was a bit lazy, Isaac was speaking German.)<strong>

**Another note, I have posted a LingxOC, Mirage, story on my account. There is only one chapter up so far but I would appreciate it if you took the time to read it and review Poisoned.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten…FINALLY!**

**Where they cross over.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

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><p>Over a two week period, Kerstin had grown very lonely. Since not all of her classes were in full-swing yet, she usually found herself alone in her dorm with a stack of books beside her. Even if she had the easiest time imagining the characters, she had grown closer to Sara than ever having expected and was almost empty without someone to care for. She did not want be by herself any longer.<p>

She lounged on her bed, knees pulled to her chest, a book held too close to her face. A table lamp sat on the nightstand, illuminating her dorm room dimly. Kerstin had trouble keeping herself focused; when she read, the words swam off of the page and swirled around in her mind, unable to be processed. She did not like sitting still, she liked caring for others. The extra time on her hands was so much that she did not know what to do with it.

Kerstin shifted to glance over her shoulder at the telephone on her nightstand. While she read, most of her time was spent wishing she would hear the phone ring. She blinked, tapping her finger along the spine of her book impatiently. She was being excluded from everyone else's lives, which was slightly infuriating to her. Her beryl eyes sharpened at the telephone angrily, as if that was going to cause it to ring.

Sara was somewhere with Edward and Alphonse. Her father, of all people, was sending out search teams daily to find them. She was being forced to sit and wait for things to brighten up, or for someone to turn back and say she was needed – but she knew that was not going to happen. Kerstin thought the worst part of all of that was that her father was not searching for her sister because he loved her, or even felt that he owed her something, it was that he had some hidden agenda that she was needed to fulfill.

Kerstin decided that it was best for her to stay out of the situation, but she needed to be updated. Maybe she should try and reach her sister before they left. She highly doubted that was going to happen, considering they were defying the impossible – probably right at that exact moment.

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><p>Saraphine was terrified; lightheaded and queasy, every muscle in her body was trembling. At first she thought that she was simply floating in space, an empty nothingness, but then she was able to open her eyes. She saw colorful lights whizzing past her, shooting like fireworks, reflected on each side. Overwhelming sense dizziness caused a sinking feeling in her gut, which she found that she had once she glanced down and saw that her body was intact. She wondered if this is what she had brought on herself.<p>

Edward had promised that he would try his hardest not to put much pressure on her while she worked. He _promised_. Yet, when she had set up all of the ingredients around the round table in the center of the laboratory, he kept telling her to hurry – like it was his neck on the line. She vaguely remembered scowling at him and snapping about how ungrateful he was acting. Sara thought, while she had her immature moments, that she had honestly given it her best to try to send him and Alphonse home. Maybe his growls at prompted her to…screw something up.

She bit down nervously on her numb lip, closing her eyes again. Sara really had no sense of feeling; before she realized that she was feeling pain, she felt blood trickling down her chin. She licked her lip, hardly tasting the iron in the blood at all. Fear coursed through her body when she realized that feeling may never return to her. Sara flexed her fingers weakly, sparks tingling in the tips.

Something had been done wrong. She knew that she had to have miscalculated something before the transmutation – as Ed had called it. Sara's gut sank again, as if it was trying to confirm her suspicions. She did not dare open her eyes; she did not want to know what was happening to her. Edward had not told her exactly what was going to happen once they flung themselves through the Gate; he warned her that she would feel sick to her stomach and she would most likely be spit out in a separate place from them. She could handle being alone, Alphonse had told her to stay where she was and they would find her. What Sara feared was that she ended up hurting them more than helping them.

Dulled voices reached her ear, swirling around to fuse into a single noise. At first, Sara did not think that the voices were even there since she could not tell where they were coming from, but she was not going to open her eyes to confirm anything. When she confirmed and convinced herself that people were actually talking, she still doubted they were saying words at all. It sounded, to her, like moaning, like agony.

Sara was stirred. It was like she was in the midst of a dream, mere inches from being pulled through to consciousness. All she had to do was open her eyes and make it all go away, make it all disappear. It was not going to work like that and she knew it; she was not in a nightmare, she was travelling between dimensions – which were even worse.

Sara defied her previous decision and opened her eyes, watching a huge black door speed towards her. She was spit through it, feeling nothing as she hit what felt like a floor, released into an entirely white void. This was the awakening to her nightmare. Glancing around the space to reassure herself, Sara found that she was subconsciously expecting Edward and Alphonse to be sitting beside her, but instead was sitting alone in fear. She began trembling again.

"I didn't expect anyone to come through so soon," said a voice. Sara could not tell if it was male or female. "A pair of brothers passed by here not too long ago, you know."

Hope flared within her. Sara's blue eyes flashed. "WHAT?" she called into the nothingness, her voice wavering nervously. Slowly, she climbed to her feet; her legs were shaking, threatening to collapse from under her. She spun on her heels, ignoring her swelling lightheadedness.

Two huge doorways stood on either side of her, formed by intricate carvings in a language she did not understand. Before the Gate on her left sat a human-like figure, entirely white just like the void in which it sat. The only way Sara knew it was there was because there was a hazy black line outlining it, much like she saw in animations at the theatre. She gasped.

The figure grinned. "An alchemist from the right side?" it asked tauntingly. "I have never heard of such a thing before. Not a single one. I certainly did not expect one to break through."

"Edward said–" Sara shouted quickly, eager to argue. She could not hold herself back; she could not manage to hold her tongue.

"I know that Edward told you that they have crossed over before. Did he tell you that they stole the information on how to do it in the first place from him?" The figure rose as it spoke. Sara stood, frozen to the core. "You are the first to figure it out on your own. I suppose that is worth a 'congratulations', don't you?"

She gulped down whatever had risen in the back of her throat. "What did I do wrong?" Sara screamed, on the verge of sobbing. Tears were swelling along the rims of her eyes.

"That depends on what you are trying to do." The grin faded from the eyeless, white figure's face. Sara's brow furrowed. "Do you even know what you were trying to do?"

"Did the brothers pass through?" asked Sara quietly, finding she was unable to project her normally loud voice. "Because that is what I was trying to do, send them home."

"Having done absolutely nothing, they were sent home. Yes, I allowed them to pass through," explained the figure. "What do _you_ want?"

Sara wondered what this thing was and how its talk had grown so arrogant. She decided against asking, the fear overriding her curiosity considering she wanted to be on some familiar form of earth as soon as possible. "I want to go with them," she declared.

"That isn't terribly much of you to ask," the figure judged. "There is so much I could tell you, so much knowledge. You are a scientist on a quest for such a thing, hence everything you have researched. Why not grab for something higher? Why not ask for that knowledge? You can, you easily can."

Did Edward warn her of this? Sara could not remember. It certainly sounded like something that he would tell her. Wasn't he worried about having something taken from her? She could not remember exactly what he had said but she knew that he had at some point. Was she being tested? Sara did not think so, but even so, she wanted whatever information that the figure had to offer. It was living between parallel dimensions; it must have something of interest to her. She desperately wanted to ask for it, but knew it was some sort of trap.

"I want to go with them," repeated Sara sternly, her blue eyes gleaming fiercely.

"Are you certain?" asked the white figure, the smirk spreading across its face.

"Yes!" she confirmed confidently.

"If you insist…"

The Gate behind the white figure slowly opened, causing a very dramatic feel to spread throughout the void. Sara watched, her eyes growing as wide as saucers, as stringy black hands shot out from the doorway, outstretched in excitement and reaching for her. She scrambled to run in the opposite direction, but suddenly crashed against the ground. The white figure could be heard laughing behind her. Sara's heart was pounding within her chest. She clawed desperately at the ground, reaching for something to grab onto that was not there.

Truth cackled, watching the brunette attempting to cling to the Gate in order to free herself of the hands. "This is what you wanted!" it called after her, smiling.

* * *

><p>The second time that Sara hit the ground, she felt it. Shock jolted through her body, causing such intense pain that she thought the surface of her back was on fire. She felt damp stones pressed against her skin, soaking through her clothes. Sara did not think that she could open her eyes, let alone move.<p>

Was this Amestris? She pried her eyes open and stared straight up above her. A ceiling of arched dirt and rocks was at least a mile above her head. This had to be it, it had to be Amestris.

Sara did not move much at first, she stuck to a simple twist of her head. To her sides were buildings, most of them gothic style, towering above her head. Most of them appeared empty, desolate. This could not be Amestris. This was not another world, this was a dead city. Panic rushed through Sara, especially when she realized that the Elrics were nowhere to be seen. With her eyes locked a pile of crumbled stones, she began to think back, going over every detail in her head.

Edward had snooped around the laboratory – just as Al said he would. He gave her the 'go' signal and they both stalked inside the building. Alphonse and Isaac followed at their heels, even when the two began setting up the transmutation. Flashes of bright light illuminated the room when she attempted to open the Gate, which Edward had said was a good thing. From there…it was a blank.

"Sara," she heard a familiar voice call. She felt a tear of relief slide down her cheek when she thought that the voice belonged to Edward. Her heart sank when she saw Isaac.

…Wait! "_What the hell is he doing here?_" she thought angrily, scowling at him. He was not supposed to come. He was not supposed to cross over. A surge of wrath swept through her. An even worse feeling overwhelmed her when Alphonse approached her with a solemn look on his face.

"We can't find Brother," he muttered, slowly sinking to his knees beside her.

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><p><strong>I apologize for taking so long on this chapter. To be honest, I actually put it down for a week due to lack of interest. You can thank Aiame and the FMA art book for convincing me to pick it up again!<strong>

**I am fairly proud of the way this chapter turned out. I would like to answer several questions now that I know several of my readers will be thinking: yes, Sara is suffering from slight memory loss and the entire story is going to be revealed next chapter. Also, Kerstin is going to play a part in the story; those snipits of her are building towards something, I promise!**

**Plushies to anyone who reviews and/or tell me where the trio ended up!**


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